Neighbors in Fremont and Wallingford are up in arms over the
city’s plans to upgrade the North Seattle Transfer Station, Seattle’s
North End dump. Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) has started
environmental review for the new facility, and neighbors are already
decrying what they say is a lack of proper process. The Fremont
Neighborhood Council has unanimously voted to file legal
challenges if they feel SPU has not taken an adequate look at alternate
sites. “They want to reconstruct the facility without considering
whether it should be somewhere else,” says Fremont resident Toby
Thaler. “If you want a lawsuit, that’s the way to do it.”
The North Transfer Station has been located in the same
spot—sandwiched between Fremont, Wallingford, and Gas Works
Park—since 1966. “Interbay is the more logical site,” Thaler
says. “It’s not butted up against single-family [homes].”
SPU’s director of solid waste, Tim Croll, says the city needs to
modernize the aging facility, and the Wallingford site makes the most
sense because of its proximity to industrial land in Ballard and
Interbay, as well as the freeway. The city is hoping to start
construction on the new transfer station by 2012. JONAH
SPANGENTHAL-LEE
