Olympic View Water and Sewer District sues Edmonds School District

Wednesday, July 30, 2025
by Eliza Aronson

Outside of the Madrona School on Monday, Aug. 26, 2024 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)

EDMONDS — The Olympic View Water and Sewer District filed a citizen suit against the Edmonds School District on Monday, alleging the district has failed to eliminate pollution linked to the Madrona K-8 School.

In a July 28 press release, Olympic View claims the Deer Creek aquifer, which supplies drinking water to homes in Edmonds, Woodway and parts of unincorporated Snohomish County, is under an escalating threat of contamination from the school’s stormwater.

The citizen suit, a type of civil suit allowing individuals to enforce environmental laws, was filed July 25 in the U.S. District Court in Seattle. The plaintiffs seek a declaration of legal rights and regulatory enforcement, as well as civil penalties.

While the press release reassured readers the drinking water is currently safe, the sewer district believes it could become infiltrated with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances — commonly known as PFAS and nicknamed as “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment or human bodies.

Current and emerging scientific studies show that PFAS have adverse health effects, including decreased fertility, developmental delays, multiple types of cancers and increased cholesterol levels.

“The Edmonds School District disagrees with the allegations outlined in the citizen suit,” school district spokesperson Amanda Ralston said in an email on Tuesday. “The District is in full compliance with its stormwater permit and has been addressing PFAS at the Madrona School consistent with the direction provided by the Department of Ecology.”

In fall 2022, the sewer district tested water at Madrona School and found high levels of PFAS. The school district then conducted voluntary sampling the following year, which also revealed present PFAS.

In 2024, the school submitted an investigation work plan to the state Department of Ecology. Since then, the state department has issued three corrective action request letters to the school district, recommending soil removal and replacement.

In May, Olympic View notified the school district of its intent to sue.

“This is a public health issue,” Bob Danson, Olympic View’s general manager, wrote in the press release. “We are urging the [school district] to take all necessary steps to stop discharging PFAS pollution at Madrona School and protect the aquifer as we enter the rainy season this fall.”

At the time, the school district responded that it planned to take corrective steps, such as removing an area of soil introduced during school construction that was the likely source of the PFAS, when the school year concluded.

“Following Ecology’s guidance, the District has retained a contractor to replace the bioretention planter strips located in the bus loop and parking areas at Madrona K-8 School, which will remove the identified source of PFAS,” Ralston said. “This project is underway with completion scheduled before school resumes this fall.”