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Redmond, King County reach settlement over asbestos cement pipe handling in regional sewer upgrade
Summary
The city presented a settlement agreement with King County clarifying responsibilities and cost-sharing for abandoned asbestos-cement sewer pipe left in place during a regional sewer upgrade.
City staff asked the committee to place on the June 17 consent agenda a settlement agreement with King County that resolves how asbestos-cement (AC) sewer pipe will be handled and who will pay future removal costs where Redmond projects intersect King County's Lake Hills and Northwest Lake Sammamish Sewer Upgrade Project.
"The project is led by King County and is designed to upgrade 4.5 miles of aging gravity sewer infrastructure," said Doug Devree, Utilities Engineering Manager. He described two siphon segments and three locations where future Redmond capital projects would intersect the County's upgraded alignment. Devrie (sic) told the committee the county will remove some AC pipe where it constructs new facilities but will leave much of the AC pipe in place; the in-place sections will be treated and filled with controlled-density fill to preserve structural integrity.
Staff said the method follows EPA-approved alternative work practices under the National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutants (NESHAP) and cited approvals and standards from the EPA, Washington State Department of Labor & Industries, and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. The settlement clarifies interpretations of a state statute (cited in committee as RCW 35.58.330) about which agency would bear removal costs if an abandoned utility must be disturbed for a future project. Under the agreement, Redmond would perform removal within its future projects as needed but the county would reimburse disposal costs in the circumstances described in the agreement, avoiding ambiguity that staff said had delayed progress.
Staff said the agreement clears the way for King County to proceed with permitting and a scheduled hearings examiner review in August 2025. Council members asked who proposed the arrangement; staff described it as a negotiated, mutual solution reached after months of work. Council expressed no objection to moving the settlement to the June 17 consent agenda.
