Totem Square Update

Last updated at 4:15 PM on June 10, 2024

Current Status: The private pump station has been fixed and the issue resolved.  The City is in the process of removing the red tags from the buildings.  Businesses can now open and operate.

Background:

On June 1, City crews responded to overflowing sewage coming from Totem Square’s privately owned and privately maintained sewer pump station, which was broken.  Over that weekend, City crews spent 14 hours cleaning up thousands of gallons of raw sewage, to avoid significant public health risks.  The property owner and property management company were aware of the system failure, and the City provided notified the property management company that the problem needed to be fixed promptly. City crews continued to monitor this private property issue throughout this past week in order to avoid negative impacts to the City’s public stormwater system, which drains directly to Totem Lake in this area. Over the next week, the property owner engaged in some repairs to the system, but these repairs were not sufficient to remedy the system failure.

On Friday, June 7, City crews found the sewage in the private system to be only inches from overflowing again into the parking area, so City crews pumped out additional sewage material.  City staff were on site and were in communication with the property management company all day.  The private sewer system is on private property and its maintenance and repair is the responsibility of the property owner.  Due to the private property owner’s failure to promptly and fully address their sewer system, the City was forced to red tag all buildings across three property parcels in the area, consisting of many businesses, which are all connected to the Totem Square sewer system.  This was necessary in order to prevent further discharges (for example, from sinks and toilets) into the failing sewer system. 

The red tag states:  

KMC 21.41.108(A)(3) and KMC 21.41.108(A)(5)(I). Due to private sewer system failure, this structure lacks adequate plumbing and other sanitary facilities, is unsanitary, and constitutes a hazard to human occupancy.

In order to protect human health, prevent illicit discharges into the stormwater system, and consistent with City code, the red tags will not be removed until the private sewer system is fully and safely functional. 

For additional questions, please submit a request through the OurKirkland portal.