New nonprofit challenges City’s aquifer regulation

Because of the risk of contaminated drinking water in Woodway and south Edmonds, a newly formed nonprofit says its first action is challenging the recent City of Edmonds’ Critical Aquifer Recharge Area (CARA) regulation.

The City said it does not comment on pending litigation.

On July 9, the Edmonds Environmental Council (EEC) obtained legal services and filed an appeal – a petition for review – with the state’s Growth Management Hearings Board (GMHB). The legal process includes initial settlement discussions, including changing the regulation to fully protect drinking water aquifers.

The EEC includes Edmonds and Woodway citizens, including Joe Scordino, president, and former Edmonds City Councilmember Diane Buckshnis. Other board members are Woodway Councilmember John Brock and community activists Theresa Hollis, Clinton Wright, Dianna Maish, and Ken Reidy.

The EEC says it hopes Mayor Mike Rosen will agree to a settlement to avoid a drawn-out legal process that will cost the City undetermined attorney fees and staff time and “confound the City’s current budget shortfalls.”

The community organization was formed in response to the growing need for what it calls “informed” voices to “help educate residents and City officials on the perils of ignoring the human and natural environment as local governments consider permitting increased housing and development.”

This is of special concern in waterfront communities like Edmonds and Woodway, says the EEC, whose landscape can be permanently damaged by poorly regulated development. It points to serious stormwater damage to salmon habitat from past development in Perrinville and Shell Creek watersheds it says have yet to be resolved.

One of the EEC’s priorities is to address stormwater runoff that comes with new development as well as lingering effects from over-development in the past. It cites stormwater flows that not only damage the landscape and creeks but also carry pollutants that alter the quality of water in creeks, natural springs, and aquifers.

These stormwater pollutants include carcinogenic petroleum compounds and hazardous “forever chemicals” that don’t break down naturally, the EEC says, citing new scientific information from the federal government. It indicated that one of these forever chemicals (known as  PFAS) can cause severe human health problems if found above trace levels in drinking water,

Despite months of community comments and concerns to the City about the risks of PFAS getting into the Olympic View Water District’s drinking water aquifer, the EEC says the City adopted a regulation that will allow stormwater polluted with PFAS to be infiltrated directly into the Deer Creek drinking water aquifer.  

The EEC’s stated mission is to provide public service, education, and civic engagement to preserve, protect, restore, and enhance the natural and human environment in Edmonds and adjacent cities and unincorporated areas. 

Other issues that the EEC will address:

• the environmental and human impacts of the housing density initiatives and whether the best available science, including local knowledge, is used in updating the City’s comprehensive plan;
• the City’s adherence to the State Environmental Protection Act (SEPA) on all actions
• the cleanup of the old Unocal property to ensure it is indeed for salmon recovery and nearshore restoration;
• restoration of natural areas such as the Edmonds Marsh;
• resolving habitat problems in local creeks; and
• other community issues identified by EEC members.

Those interested in becoming members of the EEC and/or making donations can email Edmonds.Envir.Council@gmail.com. Membership will include participation in community topic-specific committees.