The county will use the funding to build an additional holding pad for removing water from storm waste. Three additional settling vaults and a cover for the entire facility also will be constructed. The cover will divert more than 350,000 gallons of rain water each year, saving space in the sewer system and allowing faster processing of the storm waste by allowing it to dry out more quickly. This is a prime example of government agencies working together to save money. The waste is dumped onto sloping ramps at the facility, where solids settle and liquids evaporate.
Dry solids are then hand-screened.
All recyclable items, including salvageable rock, are removed. Hazardous liquids also are separated and removed. The county's storm water finds its way into many waters, including Salmon Creek, northeast of Vancouver, which is on the state's list of most-polluted waters. Storm water also finds its way into the East Fork Lewis, Washougal and lower Columbia rivers, inhabited by threatened wild steelhead and chinook salmon. This a release from the Washington Department of Ecology .