Sewage spill forces Seattle beach to close

Sewage spill forces Seattle beach park to close

A stormwater system emptied into Lake Washington near Pritchard Island Beach, leading to an extended closure.

SEATTLE - A sewage spill is forcing a beach along Lake Washington to shut down until next week.

What we know:

Seattle Parks put out a notice late Wednesday announcing that Pritchard Beach would be shutdown due to a sewage overflow. FOX 13 has learned that roughly 150 gallons made it into the stormwater system, after a sewer pipe in South Seattle broke.

An employee at the state’s Department of Ecology told FOX 13 that the stormwater system emptied into Lake Washington near Pritchard Island Beach, leading to an extended closure.

Seattle Parks is warning both people and pets to avoid the water over the next week.

Sewage spills aren’t new – Pritchard Beach has been shutdown for much larger spills in the past, including a 3 million-gallon spill back in 2019 that forced nine Seattle beaches to shut down.

The beach is expected to re-open next Wednesday.

The Source: Information in this story is from Seattle Parks and Recreation, the Washington Department of Ecology and FOX 13 Seattle reporting.