Campaigning for clean water and a healthy environment for humans and wildlife
Subcategry for Critical Areas Protection related posts
Because the critical areas regulations must be consistent with the comprehensive plan, each comprehensive plan should set forth the underlying policies for the jurisdiction’s critical areas program. [WAC 365-196-485(1)(e)]
Continue reading “EEC proposed Critical Areas Program amendment to Comprehensive Plan”The examiner revoked the city’s Determination of Non-Significance, forcing Edmonds to address infrastructure issues on the creek
By by Eliza Aronson
Tuesday, April 1, 2025
Link to Everett Herald article
EDMONDS — The city of Edmonds has work to do on Perrinville Creek.
On Friday, City Hearing Examiner Phil Olbrechts decided city staff must address safety issues about a corroded pipe that connects the last few hundred feet of stream to Puget Sound, and consequently restore fish passage along the lower portion of the creek.
Continue reading “Edmonds Hearing Examiner decides on Perrinville Creek saga”My Edmonds News
Posted: November 26, 2024
Letter sent to Edmonds Mayor Mike Rosen, Edmonds City Council, and Edmonds Planning Director
From: Edmonds Environmental Council
November 25, 2025
Please see the linked OpEd piece in My Edmonds News yesterday and the comments to it.
By Joe Scordino
Posted: November 23, 2024
Much of Edmonds shouldn’t be further developed because of inadequate or antiquated infrastructure, or the area is already overbuilt for the existing landscape or it has unique landscapes and critical areas requiring additional restrictions. But our state Legislature didn’t take this into account when it mandated every city to update their Comprehensive (Comp) Plan to allow for increased housing density.
Continue reading “Reader View: A better idea for Edmonds Comprehensive Plan update – ‘Environmentally Sensitive’ zoning”Link to full Everett Herald article
EDMONDS — The state Department of Ecology is advising the Edmonds School District to “take immediate corrective action” to reduce dangerous forever chemicals in Madrona K-8 School’s stormwater management system, after local water officials and a consulting firm both found contamination.
Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are found in hundreds of products, including nonstick cookware and firefighting foams. When people are exposed, PFAS can increase risks of certain cancers and weaken the body’s immune system.
The chemicals are not affecting the school’s drinking water. But environmental activists and leadership at the Olympic View Water and Sewer District are concerned PFAS will seep into the Deer Creek aquifer that supplies drinking water to homes in Edmonds, Woodway and parts of unincorporated Snohomish County.
In a letter sent earlier this month, officials with Ecology’s Water Quality Program recommended the school district locate the source of the PFAS. If the school district cannot find the source, Ecology proposed using “additional or alternative” stormwater treatment methods known to remove PFAS from runoff.
Removing PFAS from stormwater is an emerging area of research, Ecology spokesperson Colleen Keltz said in an email. But if needed, the school district could use a filter or soil mixture with granular activated carbon to address contamination, she said.
Madrona’s stormwater system uses underground injection control wells — structures that allow fluids to flow into the ground, typically under the force of gravity. The wells are layered with sand and rock to filter out pollutants. After passing through a metal screen at the bottom, the water disperses into the ground.
The Deer Creek aquifer is like “an underground river” beneath the school campus, said Taine Wilton, director of capital projects for the Edmonds School District, in a previous interview with The Daily Herald. The underground wells hover 40 to 50 feet above the aquifer, with layers of silt in between.
Still, in an interview earlier this month, Bob Danson, general manager at Olympic View, said he is concerned the wells “will actually dump stormwater into the aquifer.”
School district staff are reviewing and determining next steps, said spokesperson Curtis Campbell. He did not have information on how much the school district may pay for a new stormwater treatment system.
Ecology has not set a deadline for the school district to complete its recommendations.
“But we have been working with them on this issue and will continue to work with them to ensure that progress is made,” Keltz said.
Almost two years ago, Olympic View detected PFAS in Madrona’s stormwater system.
Olympic View notified the school district, and one year later, the Seattle-based consulting firm Shannon & Wilson tested for PFAS to verify the results. The firm found two PFAS chemicals: PFOA at 22 parts per trillion and PFOS at about 8 parts per trillion.
Joe Scordino, president of the newly-formed Edmonds Environmental Council, said the situation with Madrona affirms locals’ concerns about the city of Edmonds using underground injection control wells in critical aquifer recharge areas, or places where aquifers are particularly vulnerable to contamination.
Ta’Leah Van Sistine: 425-339-3460; taleah.vansistine@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @TaLeahRoseV.
August, 2024
Dear Woodway residents, South Edmonds residents, and Friends of the Environment:
YOUR “pure drinking water” is at stake. The City of Edmonds recently passed a CARA (Critical Aquifer Recharge Area) code that could compromise the exposed aquifer storage layer that recharges and contains YOUR drinking water. Sounds complicated? It is – as aquifer is a very unique soil. This flawed code allows new development and redevelopment to use UIC (Underground Injection Control) wells that would inject potentially contaminated stormwater runoff into the ground. If you are a member of Olympic View Water and Sewer District (OVWSD),
YOUR PURE DRINKING WATER is at risk. Everyone living in Woodway should be alarmed as this development may contaminate your water that drains to the “pristine” Deer Creek watershed.
Edmonds City Council was not provided BAS (Best Available Science) regarding the current Federal Regulatory Standards for PFAS (Per-and polyfluoroalkyl or “forever chemical”) which has already been noted at Madrona School. Read the August 8, 2024 Everett Herald news article titled “PFAS found near Edmonds school sparks concerns about wells” to understand. It’s an eye-opener https://www.heraldnet.com/news/pfas-found-near-edmonds-school-sparks-concerns-about-wells/!
To compound the issue, the City had not yet completed the necessary environmental documents for the City’s Comprehensive Plan update. Without the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (expected to be presented to Council 8/22/24), any decisions about how the City will mitigate the impact of development is unknown.
With Washington State’s push for density and the flawed CARA code process, seven citizens that respect BAS formed a non-profit organization to challenge this code decision to the Growth Management Board. This grass-roots group, Edmonds Environmental Council (EEC), has hired a preeminent environmental attorney in the State of Washington, David Bricklin, of Bricklin and Newman. The firm has filed an appeal with the Growth Management
Hearings Board and requested a free mediator since EEC understands the City’s DISTRESSED financial situation and the high cost of attorneys. A mediator has been assigned to the case and will run parallel with the appeal.
The EEC’s mission is to work with local, regional and state governments to educate them on unintended environmental consequences of government actions that don’t look at ALL the variables of the environment or infrastructure. We are not opposed to ‘responsible’ development and redevelopment, but we are opposed when unrestricted development is allowed that risks hazards to human health and potentially irreversible damage to our environment. Sometimes the environment and growth (zoning) are at odds and BAS NEEDS to now play a key role. It is a very complex appeal.
Folks, this is a serious matter. The PFAS threats are obvious and the quality of OUR drinking water is at risk unless we band together. We suggest changing the code to prohibit UIC wells in CARAs until the science of PFAS is better known and State and Federal laws are implemented. Unfortunately, the City said no and so here we are!
We need your donations to support these important issues. For as little as $20 you can become a member and get regular updates. The timeline may go out 180 days. So, join the fight to preserve pure drinking water.
Contact: Edmonds.Enviro.Council@gmail.com for details or visit edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org.
Sincerely,
Joe Scordino, President and Diane Buckshnis, Vice President
Edmonds Environmental Council (https://edmondsenvironmentalcouncil.org)
Posted: June 29, 2024
Link to My Edmonds News article
Editor:
The City of Edmonds has just adopted a new critical aquifer recharge area (CARA) ordinance in spite of scientific evidence from the Olympic Water District about the presence of forever chemicals (PFAS) in stormwater. The changed CARA code will allow contaminated stormwater to infiltrate into the Deer Creek drinking water aquifer in southern Edmonds.
Continue reading “Letter to the editor: City must reverse critical aquifer recharge area decision”Posted: April 17, 2024
Link to My Edmonds News article
Two major pieces of business before the Edmonds City Council Tuesday night were whether to approve a city code amendment regarding critical aquifer recharge areas (CARAs) and to learn more about the city’s options for fire and emergency medical services.
Continue reading “Council approves city code regarding critical aquifer recharge areas, hears fire service options”Posted: June 8, 2022
Link to My Edmonds News article
Editor:
The City of Edmonds is embarking this year on its now once-every-10-year major revision to the Comprehensive Plan. The city, under Development Services Director Susan McLaughlin, is proposing to use an “Equitable Engagement Framework” to solicit input about this revision from communities in Edmonds that may not have participated in the past. Ms. McLaughlin envisions recruiting what she calls “community champions” to represent their respective communities and as such they may volunteer their time or be compensated for their work. But will this process ensure that the voices of actual Edmonds’ renters, business owners, homeowners, who represent the great majority of Edmonds’ residents, are listened to and that residents truly feel “heard” and engaged? And how will traditionally under-represented communities be defined?
Continue reading “Letter to the editor: We must engage all residents in updating Edmonds’ Comprehensive Plan”Posted: June 7, 2018
Link to My Edmonds News article
The thought of moving to a different old building in a different corner of the Edmonds School District in the fall is emotional for Madrona K-8 principal Kathleen Hodges.
Continue reading “Water district concerned Madrona School’s wells could contaminate customers’ water source”