Feds giving $44M for fix at weakened Seattle dam

SEATTLE — A key Senate committee has approved $44 million to repair a
badly weakened reservoir wall at Howard Hanson Dam to lessen the flood
danger to homes and businesses – including Boeing, Starbucks and REI –
in the heavily developed Green River Valley south of Seattle.

Washington Democratic Sen. Patty Murray announced Thursday she had
included money for the repairs in a supplemental appropriations bill.

The wall next to the flood control dam in the Cascade foothills was
severely weakened by heavy rains in January 2009. That greatly
increased the flood risk downstream in the heavily developed Green River
Valley, where about 170,000 people live.

Murray said the economic effects of a flood in the valley would be
devastating – officials have estimated that property damage alone from a
severe flood could total $3.7 billion. Gov. Chris Gregoire and other
Washington business and political leaders went to Washington, D.C., last
week to push for the money.

“People’s homes, jobs, and livelihoods are at stake,” Murray said
in a written statement. “Waiting for funding continues to put the region
at risk. I have made absolutely clear to my colleagues that this is a
serious concern and I’m very proud to have secured this funding.”

Murray is a senior member of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The emergency appropriations bill for this fiscal year still must be
passed by Congress and signed by the president.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers identified short-term repairs
that need to be made quickly and would cost $44 million. Lt. Col. James
Rollins, the corps’ deputy district commander at the dam, said last week
that once the money is obtained and a final design approved, it would
take about 90 days to award a contract and four months to have the
repairs substantially completed.

The sprawling Green River Valley holds the fifth-largest industrial
park in the nation, and protecting homes and businesses with miles of
sandbags last year cost millions. According to Gregoire, Boeing alone
has spent $25 million to surround its Kent space center with a sandbag
barrier.

The valley also includes parts of four suburban cities, hundreds of
warehouses and small manufacturers, a regional coffee roasting plant
for Starbucks and Recreational Equipment Inc.’s headquarters.

No flooding has yet occurred, and the Army corps temporarily raised
the water level behind the dam this spring to test interim repairs.

Officials have said a permanent repair, which could be a deep
concrete wall running the length of the damaged reservoir abutment,
would take at least three years to complete and could cost $500 million.

– SeattlePI.com