When King County’s Noxious Weed Control Team discovered the toxic noxious weed poison hemlock growing near multiple community gardens in the county, they knew a multilingual communication campaign was the only way to alert the diverse communities of gardeners who speak a wide array of languages

“All told, we installed more than one hundred posters in nine languages and 19 unique language combinations at 76 community gardens, farms, and other public spaces in King County,” Nate Dolton-Thornton, Assistant Education Specialist and Multilingual Outreach Lead with the Department of Natural Resources and Parks, said.

Young poison hemlock plants have carrot-like leaves and can only be distinguished from carrots by the reddish-purplish splotches on the stems. Even the root looks like a white carrot, but ingesting any part of the plant can lead to hospitalization and death.

Nate and his team did a tremendous job with the outreach to the multilingual communities throughout King County.

“First, we emailed the Seattle P-Patch listserv (email list) to get a sense of the languages spoken at each P-Patch from the on-the-ground perspectives of community members,” Nate said. “We also wanted to receive each community’s permission before installing any signs in them. Second, we used a list compiled by P-Patch staff of the number of individuals by language spoken at each P-Patch. Last, we communicated directly with the Community Garden Coordinators for each P-Patch we visited.”

While much of the communication efforts have been rolled out through signage, Nate said that continuous conversations are taking place with numerous community members and garden coordinators in English, Spanish and Chinese.

The efforts are paying off. In mid-May, Nate hosted a booth at the Danny Woo Community Garden for a Seattle Tilth compost giveaway and spoke with a number of organizers about poison hemlock and the County’s warning signs.

“Afterward I ended up installing two signs at the Danny Woo Community Garden and mailing signs to the Mill Creek Community Garden in Snohomish and Freeway Estates Community Orchard in North Seattle,” Nate said. “Two weeks ago, one of the Freeway Estates Community Orchard members sent me an email. She’d found a poison-hemlock patch near the walk-in entrance to Meridian Playground. Working with one of our regional specialists, we coordinated for a senior gardener with Seattle City Parks to remove the infestation. These cascading effects help to show us how our project continues to protect people from this toxic plant.”

The team also manages a blog about noxious weeds in and around King County, on which they have written two blog posts about the dangers of poison-hemlock and the alert posters. Both posts are also available in Spanish.

Sampling Brightwater recycled water

Here’s something you don’t think about every day: recycled water. Millions of gallons of water are cleaned every day at the five wastewater treatment plants that King County Wastewater Treatment Division (WTD) operates. After the water is cleaned, some of the water is recycled for other uses like industrial, irrigation and wetland purposes.

In fact, WTD even uses recycled water to cool machinery and buildings at the West Point and South Treatment Plants. By using recycled water, WTD saves the county approximately $650,000 annually, and saves millions of gallons of water.

“We’re helping to recycle and reuse water, but it’s also providing businesses the resources they need,” said Jacque Klug, Project Manager for WTD’s recycled water program. “Using recycled water is a great way of helping the environment because it conserves drinking water supplies for people and allows us to keep more water in our rivers for fish.”

Jacque has been with King County since 2014 and is passionate about water regulation and supply. She helps connect potential irrigation and industrial customers to the program and ensures customer satisfaction. Jacque explains that recycled water is exciting because she gets to support businesses and help the environment in creative and engaging ways.

One resourceful way in which recycled water has made a difference is in the 2008 wetlands project in the Chinook Bend Natural Area. Water from the Carnation Treatment Plant serving the homes and businesses in Carnation is treated and delivered to enhance native plants, manage soils and allow for fish passage. The project was awarded Small Project of the Year in 2008 by the WateReuse Association, and increased the size of the wetland to nearly four acres, benefiting wildlife and enhancing opportunities for recreation at Chinook Bend.

“This project was a great partnership between King County and the community to support environmental restoration and recreation” said Jacque. “We work hard to be on the cutting edge of recycled water.”

Sampling water at the South Treatment Plant

This desire for innovation began when the first recycled water facility, the South Treatment Plant, opened in Renton in 1998. As one of the first facilities in Washington State to produce recycled water, it has a long history in the field and serves as a resource for other agencies that want to start recycling water.

“Our staff at the South Plant are experts in recycled water production and provide technical assistance to other state and national utilities,” said Jacque. ”After going through the treatment process our water is actually very clean, with no measurable bacteria.”

The ongoing process of reaching out to new interest groups, educating people and delivering cost effective and sustainable water to area businesses are the more challenging aspects of the Program. Jacque explains that participating in annual conferences, like the recent Washington Turf and Landscape Show, and partnering with community organizations has helped to ensure future success.

Successful partnerships include a 2007 research project with the University of Washington demonstrating that recycled water is a valuable and safe water source for growing food and landscape plants.

“The conferences allow us to learn about the needs of potential customers,” said Jacque. “Partnering with people in the community helps us to improve the process and our work.”

The ground-breaking involvement in wetlands restoration and water research has continued to pay off. Companies and organizations, like the Starfire Sports Complex (practice field to the FC Sounders team), Willows Run Golf Complex in Redmond, WA and 60 Acres Park, recognize the importance of using recycled water to further provide rich, vibrant opportunities for patrons of their facilities.

“Water is the life blood of our region,” said Jacque. “It’s essential to all the things we love about living in King County – to recreate, to live, for salmon, for sports and more.”

To learn more about WTD’s recycled water program, visit the website or contact recycled.water@kingcounty.gov. To learn more about King County wastewater services overall, visit the King County website.

Starfire Sports Complex

South Plant Recycled Water Facility

Sampling water at the South Treatment Plant

Carnation Chinook Natural Area Wetlands

Sampling Brightwater recycled water

Golf Course

When domestic violence is perpetrated by children in their own homes, families are faced with a difficult decision about whether to involve the police, which can lead to incarceration and a criminal record.

In many instances families want their children to have the opportunity to “cool down” and learn how to manage their feelings of anger or frustration in non-violent ways.

That’s why King County created FIRS (Family Intervention and Restorative Services).

One of the employees who oversees FIRS is Stephanie Trollen, Legal Services Supervisor at the county’s Juvenile Division of the Prosecutor’s Office.

“FIRS is one of our best examples of innovation in criminal justice; the model rejects almost everything we do in traditional prosecution. FIRS honors families and meets them where they are,” Stephanie said. “I think it is restorative justice at its very best.”

Stephanie states that FIRS agreements are used in lieu of any formal court processing of the case, and the contracts, which are signed by youth and parent/guardian, are tailored to meet the need of each family.

The silver lining to cases such as these is that FIRS puts parents and children on a path to healing. Parents receive counseling services, mental or substance abuse experts, or any array of social services without pressing charging on their child, while the child gets a second chance at pursuing a higher education and landing the job they want without the hindrance of a criminal charge on their record.

Stephanie said that FIRS “grew out of frustration with the limited options for parents,” from her hands-on work with these cases. The FIRS team has received about 520 referrals from law enforcement and at least 265 families have entered into service agreements.

The success of the program is drawing attention across the state, with Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties now considering implementing programs similar to FIRS.

Last year, the FIRS team received a letter from a youth who stayed in the FIRS respite center for several days. He wrote, “The experience I have had here has helped me realize that what I have been doing my whole life is truly not right…I just hope all of you know that you helped change my life for the better and I would like to thank you.”

For more information about FIRS, visit the King County FIRS website.

Pictured: Dedicated members of King County Juvenile Court, the Prosecuting Attorney’s Office and the Department of Judicial Administration celebrate the opening of the new FIRS Center.