North Bend Urges Residents to Report Illegal Sewer Dumping After Recent Incidents – Living Snoqualmie

Report on Illegal Waste Dumping in the City of North Bend and its Impact on Sustainable Development Goals

Incident Overview

Staff at the City of North Bend Wastewater Treatment Plant have reported multiple instances of suspected illegal dumping of septic and portable-toilet waste into municipal manholes. This prohibited activity poses a direct threat to public health, environmental integrity, and critical urban infrastructure, undermining key United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Impact on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

The illegal discharge of untreated waste directly contravenes several SDGs and jeopardizes local progress towards sustainability targets. The primary impacts are outlined below:

• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: The introduction of septic waste can destroy the biological organisms essential for the wastewater treatment process. This operational failure risks the release of untreated sewage into local waterways, directly compromising water quality and the community’s access to safe sanitation services.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: Unscreened waste containing contaminants can cause catastrophic damage to pumping equipment and the treatment plant itself. The resulting high repair costs divert public funds from other essential services, hindering the development of resilient and sustainable community infrastructure.
• SDG 14: Life Below Water: The potential failure of the treatment plant and subsequent release of pollutants into local waterways poses a severe threat to aquatic ecosystems and biodiversity.
• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The unauthorized handling and disposal of raw sewage create significant public health risks for the community.

Infrastructural and Financial Consequences

The material consequences of this illegal activity represent a significant barrier to sustainable municipal management. Key impacts include:

• Failure of biological wastewater treatment systems, leading to potential environmental permit violations.
• Severe mechanical damage to pumps and other equipment within the wastewater collection system and treatment facility.
• Financial liabilities for repairs potentially reaching hundreds of thousands of dollars, straining municipal budgets and impeding investment in sustainable infrastructure projects aligned with SDG 11.

Community Action and Reporting Protocol

Community vigilance is essential for protecting shared environmental and infrastructural resources and supporting the city’s commitment to the SDGs. Citizens are encouraged to take the following steps to report illicit activities:

1. Report Suspicious Activity Immediately: If a septic truck, portable-toilet service vehicle, or any other hauler is observed dumping waste into an open manhole or storm drain, contact the Wastewater Treatment Plant emergency line at (425) 765-0531 without delay.
2. Record Details Safely: If it is safe to do so, note identifying details such as the company name on the vehicle, license plate number, time, and specific location. For personal safety, do not approach or confront the driver.
3. Recognize the Illegality: Understand that unauthorized dumping into sanitary or stormwater systems is an illegal act that causes serious harm to community health and the environment, directly opposing the principles of sustainable development.

1. Which SDGs are addressed or connected to the issues highlighted in the article?

The article on illegal dumping of septic waste in the City of North Bend touches upon several interconnected Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The primary concerns—water quality, public health, environmental protection, and infrastructure integrity—directly align with the objectives of the following SDGs:

• SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being: The article explicitly states that the practice of illegal dumping “poses significant risks to public health.”
• SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation: This is the most central SDG, as the article focuses on the protection of wastewater treatment systems, sanitation infrastructure, and the prevention of water pollution.
• SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities: The issue directly impacts essential city infrastructure, its financial stability due to high repair costs, and the overall safety and environmental quality of the community.
• SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production: The illegal dumping represents a failure in the environmentally sound management of waste, a key component of this goal.
• SDG 14: Life Below Water: The article warns that failures in the wastewater treatment system can lead to “environmental impacts to local waterways,” which affects aquatic ecosystems.

2. What specific targets under those SDGs can be identified based on the article’s content?

Based on the specific problems described in the article, the following SDG targets are directly relevant:

SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation

• Target 6.3: “By 2030, improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater…” The article’s core subject is the “illegal dumping of septic or portable-toilet (Sani-can) waste,” which is a direct form of pollution that this target aims to eliminate. The failure of the treatment plant would lead to the release of untreated wastewater.

SDG 3: Good Health and Well-being

• Target 3.9: “By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination.” The article’s warning about “significant risks to public health” from contaminated waste aligns with this target’s goal of preventing illness from water and soil pollution.

SDG 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities

• Target 11.6: “By 2030, reduce the adverse per capita environmental impact of cities, including by paying special attention to air quality and municipal and other waste management.” The illegal dumping is a critical failure in municipal waste management. The article highlights the resulting “severe damage to pumping equipment” and the financial burden, which are adverse impacts on the city.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

• Target 12.4: “By 2020, achieve the environmentally sound management of chemicals and all wastes throughout their life cycle… and significantly reduce their release to air, water and soil in order to minimize their adverse impacts on human health and the environment.” The article addresses the improper disposal of septic waste, which is a failure to manage waste in an environmentally sound manner, leading to the exact adverse impacts on human health and the environment that this target seeks to prevent.

SDG 14: Life Below Water

• Target 14.1: “By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities…” The article’s concern about “environmental impacts to local waterways” from land-based illegal dumping is a direct link to this target, as local waterways eventually connect to larger bodies of water.

3. Are there any indicators mentioned or implied in the article that can be used to measure progress towards the identified targets?

The article does not cite official SDG indicators, but it provides information that can be used to create practical, localized indicators to measure progress:

Implied Indicators:

• Number of illegal dumping incidents: The article mentions “several instances of suspected illegal dumping.” A primary indicator of success would be the reduction or elimination of these incidents, which could be tracked through reports to the emergency line.
• Wastewater treatment plant permit violations: The article states that system failures “can lead to permit violations.” Tracking the number of such violations would be a direct measure of the wastewater system’s operational integrity and its impact on water quality (relevant to Target 6.3).
• Cost of infrastructure repairs: The article notes that damage can “cost hundreds of thousands of dollars.” Monitoring and reducing the annual cost of repairs to pumping equipment and the treatment plant caused by contaminants would serve as a financial and operational indicator of progress (relevant to Target 11.6).
• Number of public reports of suspicious activity: The city encourages the public to “Report suspicious activity immediately.” An increase in citizen reporting could initially indicate heightened awareness, while a subsequent decrease could suggest a reduction in the problem itself. This measures community engagement in protecting the environment.

4. Create a table with three columns titled ‘SDGs, Targets and Indicators” to present the findings from analyzing the article.

Source: livingsnoqualmie.com