Seattle, King County settle pollution complaint
Apr 16, 2013, 12:03 PM | Updated: 3:52 pm
Seattle and King County have agreed to reduce the amount of polluted water that enters Puget Sound under a settlement with the federal government.
The agreement resolves allegations that the city and county violated the Clean Water Act by discharging raw sewage and other pollutants. The U.S. Justice Department claims the city and the county sent hundreds of millions of gallons of raw sewage into local waterways between 2006 and 2010.
King County will pay a civil penalty of $400,000 and Seattle will pay $350,000 under the terms of a consent decree, filed Tuesday in federal court.
The city and the county also agree to spend millions of dollars to control sewer overflows.