Pierce County officials Thursday marked the completion of a $1.6 million, 2.5-acre facility that aims to improve how the county processes roadside storm drain waste.

The waste processing facility, which is located adjacent to the Pierce County Central Maintenance Facility in Spanaway, 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 will also increase the county’s capacity for processing storm drain waste, and be more cost effective and efficient as it is located at the home base for most of Pierce County’s Road Operations staff, according to Pierce County officials.

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 out 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.

Pierce County broke ground on the project in June.

More information is available online at piercecountywa.org/decantfacility.

Pierce County officials Thursday marked the completion of a $1.6 million, 2.5-acre facility in Spanaway that aims to improve how the county processes roadside storm drain waste. (PHOTO COURTESY PIERCE COUNTY)