DNRP, Lower Duwamish Work Group begin Activated Carbon pilot study
An innovative sediment cleanup technology is being tested by the Lower Duwamish Work Group. Activated Carbon, common in household water filters, was placed on three plots in the Lower Duwamish. Three years of monitoring now begins to evaluate the effectiveness of Activated Carbon in trapping contaminants and the effects the filtering has on organisms living in the sediment.
The Lower Duwamish Waterway Group is composed of specialists from King County, the City of Seattle, the Port of Seattle and the Boeing Company. The County’s Wastewater Treatment Division constructed the pilot project and is contracting the monitoring work on behalf of LDWG.
For more information, enjoy watching Jennifer Kauffman, King County WTD project manager, on our YouTube channel, read Lindsay Peyton’s story in the West Seattle Herald, and visit the County’s Our Duwamish site.
Share this:
Area code changes are coming to western Washington
What you need to do know to avoid disruption
On July 1, 2017, western Washington will incorporate the new area code 564. The new area code is an overlay for phone numbers issued in the current 206, 360, 253, and 425 area codes and will cover new phone numbers only. What this means is: As phone numbers in the current area code are no longer available, a new phone number will be assigned using the 564 area code.
As of July 1, 7-digit dialing when making local calls within the same area code will no longer be an option; everyone must dial all 10 digits for 206, 360, 253, 425, and 564 area codes when making local calls.
King County employees dialing from non-Skype (Lync) prefixes 263, 205 or 296, must dial 9+ their 10-digit number even if dialing another 206 employee.
To avoid disruption, please review and update or ask your maintenance providers to verify and reprogram all your dialing systems settings prior to July 1. Any system or device with a phone number that has been pre-programmed may be affected. Affected systems can include, but are not limited to: speed dial lists, FAX machines, credit card machines, postage machines, internet dialup access, voicemail access, medical alert devices, safety alarm security systems, gates, and ankle monitors; Many modern devices default to 10-digit dialing, but not all.
Questions? Contact HelpTicket@kingcounty.gov for assistance.
Share this:
Forest Carbon/Forest Health Lunch and Learn, March 8
Join us at this month’s Climate Preparedness Lunch and Learn to hear from the WLRD Rural and Regional Services team about how the County’s Forest Health plan is preparing us for climate change impacts.
Wednesday, March 8, from noon to 1 p.m. King Street Center, 6th Floor, King and Chinook Rooms
All King County employees welcome, but space is limited. Please sign up here.. For more information, please contact Jessica Engel at Jessica.engel@kingcounty.gov or 206-477-3132.
Share this:
From the Hip: Martha Cohen, Manager, Office of Interpreter Services
A voice for all
King County ranks nationally as a top county in numbers for refugee and immigrant resettlement. Indeed, 98198 is one of the most ethnically diverse zip codes in the U.S. It can be said that what New York City was to cultural diversity in 1905, Seattle/King County is today.
Since 1992, this office has provided interpreters in 161 different languages including ASL for all Superior Court departments: civil and criminal cases, deaf jurors and court related programs at the KCCH (Seattle), MRJC (Kent) and Youth Services Center (12th and Alder). This office is where all written translations of Superior Court criminal and civil forms and court documents are managed. Additionally, the multilingual signage and kiosks in the courthouses were coordinated through this office.
Staff has worked diligently to keep up with demand by developing a bank of 200+ freelance interpreters. At any of our sites, you can hear various languages and meet people from all over the world, in short, un petit United Nations. It is an exciting, vibrant work site!
This program has been acknowledged locally, statewide and nationally for its outstanding service. In 2006, we were recognized by the National Center for State Courts as one of three model programs nationwide for delivering excellent interpreter services to persons obtaining protection orders. We have been selected twice to host national two day site visits by the Center for Court Innovation. High standards demand quality control. To that end, we train interpreters, court personnel and all judges and court commissioners on interpreter protocol, ethics, procedures and methodology. This program presents a global view on local access to services in recognition of the region’s diverse ethnic communities.
This column is featured courtesy of Martha Cohen, Manager, Office of Interpreter Services
Share this:
National Women’s History Month profiles trailblazing women in King County labor and business
This article is featured courtesy of Jamie Holter, Communications Manager, Department of Information Technology
Profiling amazing women working throughout King County: Tamara Davis, KCIT IT Project Management
Tamara Davis
How did you get your start in IT? I started in GIS as an analyst and quickly realized I had two choices: one, pursue GIS as an IT career developing databases and applications, or two, pursue using GIS as a helpful tool in support of a particular line of business most likely transportation planning. I picked number one.
Do you bring a different perspective to IT? Female employees bring different traits to the workplace that benefit organizations. I value relationship building which is useful in team building and contributes to getting the job done.
Do people treat you differently because you are a woman? Yes. I think that is natural in every area of life. From an IT professional standpoint, things have changed a lot since I started my career in 1994. King County has always been a progressive place to work, setting the standard for encouraging diversity in the workplace. This is a value I share.
Do you have advice for young women considering a career in IT? Get as much technical education, training and working opportunities as possible. Don’t just go for the classic soft skill promotion path (management) because you are encouraged to do so. I took the management direction and feel very fortunate to be here. However I would encourage any young person considering a career in IT to make sure they really understand what the work is and what about IT they find exciting. Find a role model or mentor who will commit to productive engagement and to invest in yourself.
If you could go back in time, what do you wish you would have done? Pushed myself into new opportunities more frequently and much earlier than I did.
Share this:
Deepening the dialogue and hoping for a better tomorrow
by Kirsten Garcia, Wastewater Treatment Division
This is the start of a poem by Quenton Baker that he shared at one of last year’s Reflecting on Race and Racism events organized by an employee ESJ team. The poem, which is titled “Drip” and is dedicated to George Stinney, Jr., begins with a genial image – ice cream on a sunny day. But the story of George Stinney, Jr. is anything but genial. Stinney was a fourteen-year-old African-American boy wrongly accused of murdering two white girls in Alcolu, South Carolina in 1944. He was given ice cream while in an interrogation room where he made a coerced confession. After a two-hour trial and ten minutes of deliberation by an all-white jury, George Stinney, Jr. was declared guilty and given the death penalty. He is the youngest person to have been executed in the U.S. in modern times.
Quenton Baker is one of five literary artists from last year’s events returning for a follow-up series that intends to further and more candidly delve into the issues of racism and social justice. This first event in the 2017 series called Reflecting on Race and Racism: Deepening the Dialogue will also include literary artists Kiana Davis, Anis Gisele, Shin Yu Pai, and Djenanway Se-Gahon.
It will take place Tuesday, March 21 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. in the 8th floor conference room at King Street Center. To register visit the Eventbrite page.
Dr. Caprice Hollins, a dynamic facilitator with Cultures Connecting, will guide the discussion that will follow brief prose and poetry offerings from the literary artists. Dr. Hollins has over 20 years of experience researching, studying, and working with ethnically diverse populations. Of her work advocating for social justice, she says, “…while it is difficult beyond words, it is also rewarding beyond explanation – it is our hope for a better tomorrow.”
Join the deepening discussion on racism and social justice with these local literary artists:
Quenton Baker is a poet and educator from Seattle. His current work focus is the fact of blackness in American society. He has an MFA in Poetry from the University of Southern Maine and is a two-time Pushcart Prize nominee. He is a 2015-2016 Made at Hugo House fellow and recipient of the James W. Ray Venture Project award from Artist Trust. He is the author of This Glittering Republic (Willow Books, 2016).
Kiana Davis is the author of Digging for Roots and From These Roots Up. She was born and raised in Richmond, California. She began writing poetry at the age of twelve to grapple with growing up in a low-income community and to help her develop her identity as a young black girl in America. For the past ten years, she has worked as an educator teaching at-risk youth in Washington State.
Anis Gisele is a queer, immigrant (from Manila, Philippines) person of color who learned to value all her selves through spoken word. Her poetry draws together personal narrative, intergenerational pain, and identity politics. Her writing has been published in Salon, The Feminist Wire, and Black Girl Dangerous. She works as a writing coach for high school students with learning differences and volunteers as a creative writing instructor in the women’s prison.
Shin Yu Pai is the author of eight books of poetry. Her work has appeared in publications throughout the U.S., Japan, China, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and Canada. She has been a featured presenter at national and international literary festivals, including the Geraldine Dodge Poetry Festival. She was a Stranger Genius Nominee in Literature.
Djenanway Se-Gahon first performed a spoken word poem at a Martin Luther King, Jr. Day assembly at her high school. She now spends her time writing prose, poetry, and songs, and performs quarterly at the Santa Clara University talent shows hosted by the Black Student Union. She is collaborating with a professor on a grant to explore social justice in the U.S. penal system and to advocate for restorative rather than punitive justice.
If you have questions about this or future events for 2017, please contact Debra Ross. Other members of the project committee are Wastewater Treatment Division employees John Conway, Kirsten Garcia, De’Sean Quinn, Cathie Scott, Julia Yen, and Solid Waste Division employees Donna Miscolta and Rowena Johnson.
Share this:
King County, City of Kent partner to provide rearing and refuge habitat for salmon
The City of Kent recently completed one of the eleven projects funded in part by the DNRP Wastewater Treatment Division 2016 WaterWorks Grant Program. In addition to remediating the soil of the Leber Homestead, which is where this grant was used, the purpose of the project was to provide rearing and refuge habitat for salmon, especially for juvenile Chinook salmon, which are a threatened species in the Puget Sound.
“The Kent project is a win for the environment and also for public health,” said King County Councilmember Dave Upthegrove. During the project, high levels of arsenic were discovered in the soil. Arsenic occurs naturally, and was also introduced by pesticides used in the orchard area of the homestead. “Removing arsenic from the Leber Homestead site provides a direct benefit for both people and wildlife in the immediate area, as well as downriver,” added Councilmember Upthegrove. Arsenic is a top chemical of concern to fish, as well as to people and the Puget Sound. The contamination at the Leber Homestead site would have negatively affected the project goals, especially the goal of protecting salmon.
“This project is a great example of what WaterWorks can do for water quality,” said Elizabeth Loudon, WaterWorks Grant Administrator with DNRP’s Wastewater Treatment Division. “Removing those contaminated soils means that arsenic won’t impact salmon and other wildlife that use this site, and the cleanup prevents downriver pollution.”
After hatching and emerging from gravel riverbeds in February and March, Chinook fry begin heading toward the Puget Sound. Fry that don’t get swept away in rushing spring water find rearing and refuge habitat along the way and are able to feed and grow larger. These salmon migrate to the Sound in June instead of March, and have a marine survival rate almost ten times better than that of their earlier-outmigrating counterparts.
The Leber Homestead WaterWorks project created a floodplain wetland just up from the mouth of Mill Creek, which feeds into the Green River. Whenever flows are elevated above the average annual flow, additional off-channel refuge habitat will now be available for salmon. At ordinary high-water levels, an additional 1.6 acres of off-channel habitat – and nearly 50 acre-feet of additional flood storage – will be available during salmon outmigration at the Leber project site.
According to Matt Knox, Environmental Ecologist for the City of Kent, the additional storage helps decrease the potential impacts from floods that affect property and roadways in surrounding agricultural and urban areas. “During the last century, the Green River has been re-plumbed, dammed and leveed, leaving the floodplain more than 20 feet higher than the average water level. Reconnecting this perched floodplain with the current river was difficult and expensive, but was also crucial for salmon recovery,” said Matt.
This project, combined with others identified in the Green River Salmon Habitat Plan (2005), is expected to contribute to more than a mile of new off-channel habitat in the near future.
King County Wastewater Treatment Division’s mission is to protect public health and enhance the environment by collecting and treating wastewater while recycling valuable resources for the Puget Sound region. Wastewater Treatment funds are used to support projects that improve water quality and invest in community partnerships. Funds are awarded through the WaterWorks Grant Program. The KC WTD blog also covered this project, as did KC Council News. For more information, contact Elizabeth at 206-477-4297 or water.grants@kingcounty.gov.
For more information about this and other Kent projects, visit Kent’s Capital Projects site.
Share this:
Kudos to KCSO Marine Rescue, recently highlighted in KIRO 7!
The King County Sheriff’s Office Marine Rescue unit was featured in a KIRO 7 piece for the safe and secure rescue of two boaters stranded in the middle of the Snoqualmie River.
A father and son, both wearing life jackets, got gravel into the intake of the boat’s engine, and were caught on a sandbar.
Kudos to the Marine Rescue unit for working to ensure the safety of not just this father and son, but all King County residents.
Share this:
Featured Job: Communications Specialist IV
Closing Date/Time: Sun. 04/02/17 11:59 PM
Salary: $38.71 – $49.07 Hourly, $80,516.80 – $102,065.60 Annually
Job Type: Term Limited Temporary, Full Time, 40 hrs/wk
Location: King County Courthouse – 516 3rd Ave, Seattle, Washington
Department: Department of Adult & Juvenile Detention
Description: This position will lead the planning, development and implementation of communications initiatives and public relations projects for the Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention. The successful candidate will advise the Director on the most effective way to inform internal and external audiences about how the Department achieves its mission.
Learn more about this position or view all available jobs .
Share this:
Social Media Spotlight: KC Flood District on Twitter
King County Flood Control District is a special purpose government created to provide funding and policy oversight for flood protection projects and programs.
Follow the KC Flood District on Twitter today!
Click here to view all King County social media pages.
Employee News 