McDermott Leads Drive for Seawall Support in Conference Committee

Press Release

McDermott Leads Drive for Seawall Support in Conference Committee

Rep. Jim McDermott led a behind the scenes drive to unite the Washington delegation in a bi-partisan effort to keep critically important language relating to the Elliott Bay Seawall in Seattle in the massive Water Resources legislation about to be finalized by a House-Senate conference committee.

McDermott released a unanimous delegation letter to the chairman of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, in support of McDermott's provision in the House passed bill that requires the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to study the economic impact on Seattle if an earthquake caused the seawall to fail. The goal, McDermott said, is to make the project a higher priority for the federal government.

"My provision in the House bill is critical to keeping the combined local/state/federal effort to replace the Elliott Bay Seawall on track before there is a catastrophic failure," McDermott said.

Quoting from the letter, "The existing Elliott Bay Seawall has exceeded its design life and is highly vulnerable, particularly to a seismic event. Several scenarios, including an earthquake, could cause a catastrophic failure of the seawall which would undoubtedly result in disastrous damage to person, public services and infrastructure, and private property. The Corps interprets its storm damage reduction authority as limited to considering wind and tide generated waves as the primary cause of seawall failure, not seismic activity."

McDermott got full delegation support behind another provision in the House bill, but not in the Senate version, known as forward funding. This provision allows Seattle to fund its local share faster than required, which speeds up the project timetable and saves Seattle taxpayers a significant amount of money.

McDermott said that demanding the federal government look at the Elliott Bay Seawall in the proper context- and urgency- will continue to keep the pressure on for all the required studies and fast track authority needed to get the seawall replaced.

"This is in no way meant to frighten people, but we know we are living on borrowed time when it comes to the next seismic event in Seattle," McDermott said. "We all hope for something harmless, but we have to keep the federal government focused on helping us replace critical infrastructures, like the seawall, before time runs out."

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