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.
The council voted 6-1 to move to a future consent agenda the staff-recommended amendment to the CARAs, which are established to protect groundwater and public drinking supplies from potential contamination and to ensure adequate groundwater availability.
The vote on CARAs came despite a request from several residents who asked the council during public comment to instead approve an earlier proposal — from 2023 — that they said would be a more cautious approach to the issue until more is known about how to best treat per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS. They are also called “forever chemicals” because of how long they take to break down in the environment and people’s bodies. According to this Washington State Standard report, PFAS chemicals have been used since the 1940s to manufacture industrial and commercial products, including goods like nonstick cookware, carpets, and raincoats. They’ve also been a common ingredient in firefighting foam used at sites like military bases, airports, and refineries.
CARAs are treated as critical areas under the state’s Growth Management Act. When city code was last updated in 2016, it stated that no areas meeting criteria for CARAs existed in the city. However, in 2022, Edmonds was alerted to two CARAs in the city’s jurisdiction when the Olympic View Water and Sewer District appealed the city’s SEPA Determination of Nonsignificance (DNS) for a stormwater code update. While the water and sewer district’s appeal was denied by the hearing examiner, staff committed to updating city code to reflect the presence of possible CARAs within city boundaries.
The two drinking water wells are Deer Creek Springs near the Town of Woodway and at 228th Street Southwest — both supplement the drinking water that Olympic View purchases from the City of Seattle. Among those commenting Tuesday was Olympic View Water and Sewer District General Manager Bob Danson, who reiterated his belief — expressed during a public hearing on the issue last month — that he still had concerns about city’s proposal to allow shallow underground injection control (UIC) wells at Deer Creek Springs to control stormwater runoff as a method of protecting water quality.
“Stormwater does contain pollutants,” Danson said. Olympic View completed a sample study at Edmonds’ Madrona School “that does show there is PFAS in that stormwater apparently being sent down in the UIC wells that are going into our water aquifer layer.”
He pointed to recent action by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to set a legally enforceable maximum level in drinking water for the chemicals, which have been linked to cancers, heart and liver problems, and developmental damage in children. “The levels at the Madrona School are actually above those EPA limits,” Danson said.
Acting Planning Manager Mike Clugston said the city’s CARAs proposal, which comes after a year of staff study and review by the Edmonds Planning Board, “represents the best available science that we have uncovered over the past year. It’s consistent — and exceeds — Washington State Department of Health and the Department of Ecology standards.” In addition, the stormwater portion of ordinance would be automatically updated as the Department of Ecology gets new information about different contaminants, including PFAS, he said.
Council President Vivian Olson moved to approve the proposed code, stating that after carefully studying the issue, she believed that the current science supported the staff-recommended approach. However, Olson did say the city could do more to protect CARAs, including educating residents and business owners in those critical areas about the importance of not washing their cars or using pesticides to avoid contamination.
Olson then proposed an amendment that any new projects involving tire crumb rubber should be prohibited in CARAs, noting that it is one of the chemicals listed as problematic in the Olympic View Water and Sewer District’s water supply protection guidelines.
Olson’s amendment generated a discussion among councilmembers about the idea to eventually revive a broader ban on tire crumb rubber use citywide. The Edmonds City Council approved an 18-month ban in 2015, with the idea of revisiting it as more scientific research became available. It was extended several times but is now expired, city staff said. Olson’s amendment to include a ban on crumb rubber in CARAs was approved by a 5-2 vote. Councilmembers Jenna Nand and Will Chen voted no, stating that they preferred to have a broader discussion with the community about the idea first. When it came time to vote on the final CARA language — including the approved crumb rubber amendment — the sole dissenting vote came from Councilmember Michelle Dotsch, who said she was concerned about how future development would increase the chemicals in stormwater.