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Feb
4
Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell and seven other members of Washington’s congressional delegation are asking the Corps of Engineers to keep working at full speed on a permanent fix for the Howard Hanson Dam.
In a letter Thursday they asked the Corps to complete a study by June so the project can be considered for construction funding in 2012.
Read the rest of the story over at MyNorthwest.com.
Jan
16
Over the past week we’ve recevied e-mails from a majority of citizens that oppose annexing the Renton Public Library into King County.
We believe you can come to your own conclusions, but please examine both sides. Please take a look at the endorsements on both sites. Do you notice anything?
Those againist the annexation can visit a blog at www.votenotilyouknow.wordpress.com. They have also setup a web site at www.saverentonlibrary.org.
Those for the annexation can visit a blog at www.rentonforkclsnow.org.
With the recent debacle of the Green River and the Howard Hanson Dam, do we really want to hand over a City of Renton asset to King County? Fortunately it will be up to the voters to decide. Maybe we can move the library over to the former King County Elections Headquarters on Grady? We hear the building is vacant.
If you would like to view the video from the Renton City Council Meeting on January 11, 2010 where the Library was discussed, it is available here: renton.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=3&clip_id=404. If you want to jump directly to the library presentations, select “Public Meeting” on the dropdown list directly below the video.
Nov
5
By GEORGE TIBBITS, Associated Press Writer
AUBURN, Wash. (AP) - Hurried repairs this summer at the Howard Hanson Dam have lessened the chances the Green River will flood this winter, the Army Corps of Engineers said Thursday.
Corps spokeswoman Patricia Graesser in Seattle would not say by how much the odds were improved, saying details would come at a midday news conference.
AP story continues at KOMONews.com.
Oct
30
By LARRY LANGE
SPECIAL TO SEATTLEPI.COMAs many as 300,000 people might have to be evacuated if a major flood occurs in the Green River Valley this winter, officials said Thursday.
One of the biggest challenges could be evacuating people around Southcenter Mall in Tukwila, where more than 150,000 vehicles can be parked at the shopping center and other businesses during holidays.
Story continues at the SeattlePI.com.
Oct
29
By GEORGE TIBBITS
ASSOCIATED PRESS WRITER
RENTON, Wash. — King County has spent about $200,000 on what are essentially gigantic water balloons.
But if the huge rubber and fabric barriers work as advertised and keep flood water out of the county’s South Treatment Plant this winter, it’s money well spent, said Don Wickens, assistant manager of the wastewater treatment facility.
Story continues at the Seattle PI.
Oct
19
Pretty amazing process Boeing is going through.
Make you wonder if it would have been cheaper to simply do the same thing around the King County Elections building on Grady. If Boeing believes they can get people in and out, why can’t King County.
More on the berms at KOMONews.com.
Oct
12
SEATTLE - We’ve seen the super-sized sandbags, each one weighing more than 1,000 pound, that are being used to line miles of levees.
By now, most people are aware of the danger posed by a weakened Howard Hanson Dam. Parts of the cities of Kent, Renton, Auburn and Tukwila are at significant risk of being flooded this fall.
Story continues at KING5.com with video.
Oct
8
By DEAN RADFORD
Renton Reporter Editor
October 8, 2009, 10:44 AMSouthwest Renton’s commercial and industrial area is most at risk if the worst happens - a massive flood of the Green River caused by a weakened Howard Hanson Dam.
But the worst-case scenario only stands a 1 to 5 percent chance of occurring, based on modeling done by City of Renton.
Story continues at the Renton Reporter’s web site.
Oct
6
An abutment that anchors one side of Howard Hanson Dam on the Green River has leaked for decades. Engineers have monitored it, worried about it, debated what to do with it and repeatedly made improvements to control it. A leak detected in January prompted the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to reclassify the dam as unsafe and in need of immediate action.
By Keith Ervin
Seattle Times staff reporter
In 1949, the Army Corps of Engineers warned that water might seep through the north abutment of a dam being contemplated on the Green River, but the leak “would be negligible and could be easily controlled.”
It wasn’t.
Story continues at the Seattle Times.
Oct
3
By Matt Markovich KOMO TV
HOWARD HANSON DAM, Wash. — In a race against the clock, engineers are working nonstop in an attempt to put a temporary patch on the leaky dam before the rainy season arrives.
Crews are working 24 hours a day, six days a week, drilling holes and injecting a concrete grout mixture deep into what appears to the naked eye as a part of the dam. But the engineers explain they’re actually filling parts of the hillside using landslide material.
Story continues at KOMO TV.
