Raw Sewage Flowing Into Puget Sound After Plant Failure

SEATTLE (AP) — King County says more than 100 million gallons of raw sewage and stormwater have flowed into Puget Sound after equipment failed at its wastewater treatment plant in Seattle.

King County spokesman Doug Williams says high tides and heavy rains overwhelmed the facility near Discovery Park around 2 a.m. Thursday, prompting officials to bypass the plant and send the mixture of sewage and stormwater into an emergency outfall.

The untreated flows were being discharged about three-quarters of a mile from shore and about 240 feet deep in Puget Sound.

Williams says crews are working to restore operations at West Point Treatment Plant.

He estimated the volume to be "in excess of 100 million gallons." About 10 percent of that is raw sewage, while 90 percent is stormwater, or runoff that flows off roads.