SEATTLE — A stretch of shoreline on Lake Washington between Madrona Beach and Howell Park has been closed after a power outage caused a sewage overflow on Monday, King County Wastewater confirmed.
The county said a utility power failure at the East Pine Pump Station caused the pumps to shut down, leading to an "overflow near Madrona Beach" on Monday.
A backup generator that was supposed to turn on automatically did not do so, and King County plans to investigate why that happened. An operator physically brought the station back online shortly after the power failure, according to officials.
Water quality testing is ongoing, and signage is posted between Madrona Beach and Howell Park "warning people to avoid contact with the water over the next several days as a precaution to protect public health."
After three days of positive water quality, the beaches can be reopened at the county public health department's discretion.