Anacortes approves agreement to accept dewatering water from Whit Marsh landfill cleanup with monitoring safeguards

The Anacortes City Council approved a discharge agreement with Skagit County on June 8 that allows county crews to send dewatering water from the Whit Marsh landfill remediation to the city’s sanitary sewer system for treatment.

City staff and the county negotiated contaminant limits and sampling frequency and included contractual safeguards that let the city suspend acceptance if contaminants exceed agreed limits or if the discharge jeopardizes the wastewater plant’s operations or regulatory compliance. The agreement term is 600 days or until substantial completion of the county’s work, whichever comes first; fees include a $300 permit fee, a $100 monthly administrative fee and consumption charges tied to volume discharged.

Why it matters: the Whit Marsh cleanup (a Model Toxics Control Act site) requires removal and dewatering of fill material that Ecology determined should not be discharged to surface water. The county requested an outlet to a sanitary sewer; city wastewater staff and the county agreed technical limits and monitoring to protect plant operations and the public.

Technical details: staff and council discussed conveyance and capacity. Brian Walker, the wastewater treatment plant manager, and Public Works Director Logan Lee said preliminary estimates place the project volume in the low millions of gallons (staff cited an estimate in the four‑to‑five million gallon range), representing roughly 10% of the plant’s dry‑weather flow; staff said the plant has capacity and the operator can stop acceptance if conditions change.

The county’s primary exceedance of surface‑water standards is manganese in site water, and the contract includes testing requirements and contaminant thresholds (exhibit attached to the agreement) to ensure continuous monitoring. The city retains the right to access the site and requires frequent testing and reporting under the contract.

Council voted to approve the contract with the permit and monitoring provisions; staff said the county’s contractor was on hold pending the agreement. The city will bill the county per the consumption charge schedule in the agreement and will monitor compliance throughout the discharge period.

What’s next: staff will execute the contract and begin required monitoring and reporting. If tests show levels beyond the agreed thresholds, the city may suspend or terminate acceptance per the agreement.