To: The Metro Parks Board of Commissioners,
This letter was submitted to the Park Board meeting on 7-23, 2007. I have inserted updates since this letter was written.
A city and state storm drain system has two inlets into a retaining pond (Little Wapato) of about eleven acres at the north end of Wapato Lake. This retaining pond has a thirty one foot wide dike on the south end of it and Wapato Lake on the other side. Wapato Lake is approximately twenty three acres.
One storm water inlet to the pond is 72" in diameter, the other storm water inlet, is 48".
The water level of the pond and the lake now is about three inches above the concrete portion of the dike. Before these latest rains, the level was just at the top of the dike. .
Many years ago, city inspectors failed to catch a contractor mistake. Working for a major expansion of the J C Pennies’ store at the Tacoma Mall, they connected two sewer pipes to a storm water pipe and this pipe has been dumping raw sewage, thru an at least eight inch pipe, into the storm water retention pond for ten to fifteen years. This pipe serviced up to fifteen bathrooms at the mall and other areas that they are not sure about. The city corrected this problem and re-routed the pipe just recently.
The TNT has reported that the Parks Departments own consultant publicly stated that this has had a negligible effect on Wapato Lake.
The outflow from the retention pond, which is polluted, with chemicals from fertilizers, auto fluids, etc should not be going into the lake, but it has since 1986 when this dike was built. Why was the lake level put back at a lower level than before the dike was built. Notice how high the two docks are at the lake. They were built before the dike was installed. See photos page.
At the outflow end of the retaining pond is a 36" concrete pipe. Its purpose is to allow any outflow of the retention pond to be diverted around the main lake and join in a city storm drain line past the far end of the lake by 72nd St. The bottom of the entrance to this outflow pipe is about the same height as the top of the dike.
With these two storm water inlets being so large, there is the potential of a 10 foot diameter pipe putting water into this retention pond and only a 36” inch pipe to divert these polluted waters from the lake.
So during a large rain storm this has the potential of dumping all the remaining storm water, and Since 1986 raw sewage from the Tacoma Mall directly into Wapato Lake. The major remodeling of
J C Pennies was completed in 1986. TNT 10-10-1985
Duck poop from over one hundred seventy fowl may have a larger effect than the raw sewage, but an eight inch sewer pipe ( the size was confirmed by an anonomus City Sewer Employee) dumping raw sewage from the Tacoma Mall on top of all the pollution and chemicals from storm water runoff in the past twenty one years seems pretty ominous.
Friday’s (July 23, 2007) downpour lasted only about ten or fifteen minutes. What about these monsoon type rains we have had with up to three and four inches in twenty four hours this past several years?
How many cubic feet of sewage and pollution laded water has been dumped into Wapato lake for all these years? It has to be millions of cubic feet and by the time it gets to the Wapato outlet, a large portion of the pollutants have sunk to the bottom of the lake. Any wonder why we cannot swim or eat the fish out of our lake.
In addition, two little old ladies that walk around this lake every day, have seen the water go over the top of the bridge several times in the winter time, just in the past five years. The top of the roadway, which is directly over the dike, is about forty eight inches above the concrete portion of the dike. That's four feet by thirty one feet: a one hundred and twenty four square foot area for water to come into the main lake during a large rainstorm. And you wonder why the eroded shore at the south end of the lake looks like it does.
3" Log Was Holding Up the West end of this Board
7-22-2007
The Problem Now---See photos below
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Excerpts from Newspaper articles since February 2007 concerning Wapato or the Mall.
There have been seven articles published in the Tacoma New Tribune and the Tacoma Weekly about Wapato Lake since February of 2007
I was hoping to be able to put all of them in one place for folks to see what the media is saying about this problem, but copyright laws do not allow this.
In February the consultant told the News Tribune that Wapato Lake was in very sad condition. TNT 2-13-07
A neighborhood citizen wrote asking for some "..tangible and timely results from the tax bond vote". TNT 2-20-07
On June 21, the Tacoma Weekly reported that "....a side sewage line from the mall is connected to the city’s stormwater system instead of the wastewater system. The stormwater line drains into a marshy area near Wapato Lake and eventually seeps into the lake."...
On June 26, The Tacoma New Tribune reported that two sewer connections servicing "...15 plumbing fixtures inside J C Penny" and "...an unknown load of waste from a retail area east of the mall’s food court..." were found to be faulty.
The Health Department tested the marsh and found that "...the results from the marsh water showed bacterial concentrations about 10 times greater than the level considered safe for human contact..."
"Kennedy, the public works manager, said the two improper sewer-to-storm drain connections might date back to construction or remodeling projects in 2002 at the J.C. Penney store and in 1999 near the food court. City officials are still reviewing the old building permit and inspection records, he said."
On July 6, the Tacoma News Tribune reported that the crossed sewer pipes "...could date back to the mall's original construction in the 1960's..."
On September 14, the Tacoma New Tribune reported that a $200,000 plus treatment with alum would be one way to bring the lake back to life, but only for about five to ten years. Two of the park commisioners seemed to feel the lake can be brought back to allow swimming, but that we have to get moving and make some long term plans as well concering the pollution from storm water runoff.
On September 20, the Tacoma Weekly reported that, Commisioner, "Dahl said restoring the lake to be safe for swimming is a high priority for the commission and something the citizens expect."
The Wapato Dike is 31 feet wide. Notice there are two boards above the dike except for the East end.
The top board is missing and the bottom board is lifted up about 3” on the left side and the board is lifted up about 1 inches on the right side. Why are the boards there? Is it to keep solid materials from coming into Wapato? Why is the board Lifted and How Long has it been up like this?
On Friday, July 20 there was running water flowing into Wapato under this board after just a ten to fifteen minute heavy shower. There was no water running into the Outlet pipe for the retention pond at the time these photos were taken.
So Yesterday, when these bottom two photos were taken the water level at the dike was at least two inches higher than it was on Friday. What happens when we get a deluge like last November?
The logs holding up the board have been removed since notifying the park board on July 23.
In the first week of July we decided to go to Wapato to see for ourselves what it was like again. The next letter was written to many officals. Out of the many, I received two replies. All of these officials email info will be on the resources page.
Updates since will be in a this color. This letter will be shortened as I was mistaken in how the inflow and outflow pipes worked. They are explained in the letter and photos to the Board of comminsioners on July 13.
Letter to the Editor—Tacoma News Tribune, City of Tacoma and Metro Parks
Wapato or Duck Poop Park Revisited
July 10, 2007
An article entitled “Fowl condition of ‘Duck Poop Park’ needs to change.” was published in the Tacoma News Tribune on the first real hot Sunday in July of 1988.
I am sending my comments this time to several others that should care about what happens to this park and even more important what should be done for the taxpayers of Tacoma.
I asked, in that first article, if the ‘Duck Poop’ problem could be solved. Nine years later, the ducks and geese are still there, the poop is still there—all over the place. It is in many places at the edge of the lake and quite a few feet inland. Many of the sidewalks and tables are covered in poop and no one in their right mind would even attempt to swim in that filthy scum laden lake
I have a few questions or thoughts I wish to bring up for anyone involved with the park department or city government, who cares enough to answer, comment or explain what has gone on and why.
Why are these polluting ducks and geese still accepted in such high numbers? A count yesterday showed over 170 ducks or geese plus other types of water fowl. The park departments own consultant has stated publicly that ‘….waste from one goose has a detrimental effect three times greater than one human being.’
Therefore, these 170 geese and ducks are equal to 510 humans using the lake as an outhouse.
So, this cesspool activity has been going on since my last letter nine years ago and actually, has been going on since 1981 when the lake was completely emptied and all the duck poop and other contaminants were removed. What would your outhouse look like if it had not been cleaned or moved in 26 years?
On a 34 acre lake, that gives each of these fowl about 2900 sq ft to pollute. That is just a little over a 50 by 58 foot piece of the lake bottom or grass to pollute per bird.
However, don’t forget. If it is on the grass, it ends up in the lake when it rains.
Go look for yourself what the edge of the lake looks like in front of the bathhouse, over by the fishing dock or at the back parking lot. YUK!
Since finding out that the main lake is only about 23 acres it makes these figures worse.
There are studies that show geese can leave up to one and one half pounds of droppings per day. That’s for a large Canadian goose, but just to be fair about it, let’s say one pound per day. With approximately 150 geese or more on the lake year round that would equate to 54,750 pounds or about 27 tons of goose poop per year.
From September 10, 2007 Park Board meeting:
Your own consultant says, “Gibbons suggested vegetation might also assist in reducing waterfowl waste by limiting their access to the lake.”
You really need to think about that one. Maybe if you planted blackberry bushes and then they would just fly over.
Internal loading was the cause of poor lake quality in the mid 1980s, in spite of storm water diversion, and it is the main cause today. There is only diversion for about 1/3 of the storm water coming into the retention pond. (See July 23, update drawing) and with 27 tons of goose poop going into the lake every year, what do you expect. That means thsat there has been 243 tons of goose poop going into the lake plus the pollution from the Tacoma Mall since the first "Duck Poop Park" letter.
What do we do about the many birds on the lake and in the park?
The city hired folks several times to use a pop gun or some kind of noise maker to keep the fowl away. How much of our tax money did that cost?
Someone had the bright idea to use dogs to scare the birds away. This worked long enough for the birds to take a short flight and come right back when the dogs left. Then someone decided to use the dogs to herd all these birds into the water and keep them there. How much did that cost? The dogs did keep them there; long enough to put all the poop in the lake. We did not even have to wait for rain to wash it from shore.
As I walked around the lake yesterday, it appears that there is nothing being done. Have you given up? What are we really waiting for? A less than five dollar box of bullets would be an excellent start in working on the problem immediately and give the folks at the mission something to eat for a few weeks. I do not mean to get rid of all the ducks and geese, but isn’t over 170 just a little bit too much?
Where are the signs to Not feed these fowl? Where are the penalties for feeding them and the means, etc to enforce them?
There are signs for No Swimming, but they do not tell you why.
Where are the signs for No Fishing?
The park department’s website say: On March 24, 2006, the Pierce County Health Department posted "No Fishing" signs at Wapato Lake. Please observe the following requests:
• Do not catch or eat fish from the lake
• Avoid contact with turtles and birds
• Keep pets away from the water and dead animals
These signs are not there and the kids are fishing in several places.
The Health Department did put 'No Fishing and No Swimming' signs within two days of being notified
From the park department’s history of Wapato lake: ‘On May 4, 1986 Wapato Lake reopens to swimmers after 10 years of closure and $2 million in changes. In 1981, the lake was emptied and tons of sediment containing oil and other pollutants were hauled from the bottom. A dike was built to separate drainage basin at the north end from recreational area to the south. Later a pipeline to carry fresh water was installed. During the summer an estimated 117 million gallons were added.’
A TNT article (7-6-07), the beginning of this month, stated that the Tacoma Mall has been dumping raw sewage into the drainage basin at the north end of Wapato Lake, possibly since the mall opened in the mid 1960’s. The sewer pipe that was dumping into a storm drain has been fixed.
The park’s department’s consultant says that this raw sewage has not had a detrimental effect on the lake. A later conversation with the reporter that wrote this article said she thought "he had meant that there had been no effect this last summer."That may be but how does he come to this conclusion? Nothing was reported in the TNT about how much of the mall this crossed over pipe serviced or the number of people using it.
If Wapato’s outflow is to the South, then it appears quite possible that there was leakage of sewage into the lake from the mall and maybe some serious discussions with the city or a lawsuit is in order. If the city screwed up, it should have to pay for partial mitigation of the pollution of Wapato.
This lake has an inflow of storm runoff from the surrounding city streets and the freeway.
How many pollutants are in this runoff from storm drains? Why can’t these pollutants be removed before entering the lake? If the state and/or city storm drains have pollutants that are emptied into Wapato, then maybe they should help to mitigate some of these problems as well.
Why is the lake water level so low? Moreover, why has it been kept this low for the past several years? The level was substantially higher in past years. Who made that decision and why?
A pipeline was installed sometime in 1986 or later to pump fresh water into the lake.
Does pumping water into the lake cost that much?
Ok, so recently, you have built a police station and you have hired a contractor to upgrade the bathhouse. They started on the bathhouse last summer. When will they be finished?
(October of 2007)
What have you accomplished to alleviate the lake problem in these last nine years? It does not appear that any of our tax dollars went to Wapato Park except maybe to hire some expensive consultants, let out a substantial contract for building a bathhouse that is totally useless until the lake gets cleaned up, barking dogs and fireworks.
What are you going to do in the near future? We would like to get our park back and that means the area surrounding the lake. Several homeless folks have taken up the grassy areas next to the main parking lot above the bath house in the afternoons and in some cases have thrown their garbage all over. Can’t the police dept come from their driveway occasionally and check it out? I remember something about these folks having been offered housing; that they are not supposed to be in living in the parks.
The citizens of Tacoma would like to have our park back. The first priority should be to make the park usable and that means to clean up the lake and get rid of the ‘Duck Poop.’
That item for cleaning the lake in your master plan costs 1.3 million. We did not need a 1.6 + million dollar bathhouse right now. For the time being we would be happy with a lake we could swim in and be able to spread a blanket out for a picnic and even just a few port a potties by the bathhouse. Is that too much to ask? It just might be a good idea to put some signs in the park so folks know where to go to find a bathroom. Is there anyone in charge that takes the time to pay attention to details? What good are rental boats if no one wants to touch the water? Then it appears as though only 2 million was allocated for Wapato this entire year. Could someone please explain to Tacoma taxpayers what the logic in this way of thinking is?
Are you not putting the cart before the horse?
Right now, the park cannot be used unless you get away from the lake for several hundred feet and then you have the guts to offer one picnic shelter that is right by the lake to our taxpaying citizens for a fee. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves.
The master plan is a good one, but anyone can see it will not be accomplished for many years and a whole lot more money. We should not have to wait another ten years to use our lake. The lake and contamination of it should be the top priority. Let us have our lake back. Maybe you could use the money for the new Titlow pool on Wapato and make a swimming pool and lake that everyone would be proud of and love to come to. Then we can worry about getting concessions stands, etc and making money for more improvements.
We would like to have some answers and that means in plain English.
I am sure that at least some of you heard about the Duck Poop Park sign nine years ago.
I am confident that the sentiments in this letter are in agreement with many of my fellow South end tax payers and if you need to hear from more than just myself, let me know.
Please, do not ignore this letter.
Sincerely,
Wally Giffin
Wallygiffin253@msn.com
Steve Knauer, the department of operations supervisor called me at 3 PM on July 12, 2007 to discuss my letter.
He was not aware of the retention pond being on an even level with the lake and just a 30 o 36” outflow pipe to bypass the lake. So, I asked him to contact someone in sewer with the acreage of the pond and figure out how many gallons would go over the dike in a storm surge. He knows the city and state are polluting the pond and they have had preliminary discussions with them about it. I have not received an answer for this one as yet WG 9-16-07
Update September 16, 2007
The above letter was sent to all City of Tacoma Councilmen, the city manager and mayor, the entire Park Dept board of commissioners and the Board of Directors. Steve Knauer replied, thanked me for the letter and expressed that most of the parks dept folks were, for the most part, agreeable to the thoughts in the letter.
Julie Anderson, a City of Tacoma coucilwoman deferred my letter to the Park Board of Commisioners.
No reply was received from any of the others.
7-11-2006 water was level to top of dike.
This situation needs to be looked into more thoroughly and if the city and/or state has added to the pollution of our lake, they should be required to mitigate the costs of cleaning it up and keeping it that way.
The state has allocated $300,000 to be used for clean up of the lake. It has not been decided yet how to use these funds.
There still is no garbage can by the North parking lot—only at the stove shelter about 200 feet towards the bath house.
Kids are still playing in this lake and folks, including adults are fishing. The Health Dept has since installed No Fishing and No Swimming signs where needed since notfying them of the problem and the two dead ducks.
There is a no swimming sign at the North parking lot, partially visible, about thirty feet out in the lake and has been there for quite some time.
There are still no signs about not feeding the birds. Years ago there was an ordinance of some kind to 'not feed the animals' Signs were in place at Wapato, although many folks did not pay any attention to them. There was talk at the time to make a fine and make it stick. What happened to that idea.
An anonomous source has stated that 2 to 3 fowl per acre of water would be acceptable. The main lake where most of the fowl are now has over 175 fowl. About 90% of these are Canadian Geese.
175 fowl equates to 7.5 fowl per acre. That figure is unacceptable for safe, clean conditions.
Thanks for your time,
Wally Giffin
Wallygiffin253@msn.com
