Pierce County will celebrate the completion of a new facility that processes roadside storm drain waste with a ribbon cutting ceremony at 1:30 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Pierce County Central Maintenance Facility, 4812 196th St. E in Spanaway.

The waste processing facility, which is located adjacent to the Central Maintenance Facility, will allow the county to separate, process, reuse and dispose of liquid and solid waste generated when county road crews clean catch basins, ditches and drainage pipes located in unincorporated Pierce County. The facility, which is expected to be completed in late November, has a footprint of approximately two-and-a-half acres.

Speakers at the ceremony include Deputy Executive Kevin Phelps; Pierce County Councilmember Jim McCune of District 3; Brian Ziegler, Public Works and Utilities director; Bruce Wagner, Public Works and Utilities road operations manager; and Doug Howie, Washington State Department of Ecology engineer.

“This facility will increase our capacity for processing storm drain waste, and be more cost effective and efficient as it is located at the home base for most of our Road Operations staff,” Wagner said. “It is also in an area where most of our storm drains are located.”

Storm drain waste will be transported from job sites back to the new facility in vactor trucks, which will be emptied into the facility and processed. The resulting processed water will be used to wash maintenance trucks, while the solid waste will be reused as a soil amendment or transported to a solid waste facility.

Road crews clean roadside storm drainage facilities six months of the year. Unincorporated Pierce County is home to approximately 21,700 catch basins, 1,200 miles of ditch, and 550 miles of drainage pipes.

General Mechanical, Inc. was the project contractor, and KPFF Consulting Engineers was the project engineer. Construction cost approximately $1.6 million, and was funded by a $750,000 grant from the Washington State Department of Ecology and $837,914 in Pierce County Road Funds.

Learn more about the project online.