Rain, rain go away. Or the poop will flow this way

Seattle beaches at Discovery Park and Golden Gardens are still closed following a malfunction at a sewage treatment plant near Discovery Park. That problem caused 310 million gallons of untreated stormwater mixed with sewage to be diverted into Puget Sound.

As of Monday, the plant was running at half-capacity, and was not dumping untreated waste. But that didn’t keep visitors away this holiday weekend. People in hooded rain jackets walked dogs, strolled the wooded paths and misty shores. Enjoying themselves, even if their noses said otherwise.

“It’s rank today, stinks very bad. It’s kind of like a sulfury, gross disgusting smell,” said Sarah Ellis. She and her boyfriend, Pierre Crutchfield, came to the park to break in their new boots for a trip to Patagonia. They were hiking along the beach, despite the small.

They worry about the long term impact on the environment.

Anything that goes down a toilet, sink or street drain in North Seattle usually ends up at the wastewater treatment plant at Discovery Park before it goes into Puget Sound. But on February 9th unusually heavy rains caused a pump to malfunction, flooding the plant with sewage and storm-water, and pushing hundreds of gallons of dirty water into the sound.

Crews had to drain and clean up the mess inside the plant to reach critical machinery. The cleanup is expected to finish Tuesday. There is no timeline for finishing repair work, but it could take weeks.