Some beach advisories lifted after West Seattle sewage overflow

Public Health - Seattle & King County has lifted beach advisories for the areas near Constellation Park and Charles Richey Sr. Viewpoint after a sewage overflow in June closed those and other West Seattle beaches.

On June 17, wastewater crews responded to what the health department described as a brief sewer overflow" at the 63rd Avenue Pump Station. That station is located near Constellation Park at the 3500 block of Beach Drive Southwest.

Crews have analyzed water samples from nine locations along the beach south of Alki Point, according to Akiko Oda, a spokesperson for the county's Wastewater Treatment Division.

"Based on results from the past two days, Public Health has lifted the beach advisory for the areas near Constellation Park and Charles Richey Sr. Viewpoint, Oda wrote in an email Saturday.

A beach advisory remains in effect for Cormorant Cove through 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, she added. People and pets should avoid contact with the water in that area.

Wastewater spills have been a recurring problem over the years, including a 2017 spill from the 63rd Avenue Pump Station that spilled 330,000 gallons of sewage and waste into Puget Sound.

Another spill resulted in 3 million gallons released in 2019 from a failure at the West Point Treatment Plant that dumped sewage near North Beach in Discovery Park.

In 2022, King County negotiated a settlement of about $5 million after the Suquamish Tribe threatened a lawsuit over millions of gallons of sewage spills from the county's treatment plants into Puget Sound.

Correction: An earlier version of this story misstated Akiko Oda's title. She is a spokesperson for the county's Wastewater Treatment Division.

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