After multiple false alarms at the Tolt Dam have caused growing frustration, a Republican senator in Washington state is proposing that Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) pay $1 million for each future false alarm, part of which would go toward programs for post-traumatic stress disorder treatment for residents.
Eight alarms have sounded in the past four years at the Tolt Dam, signaling to residents downstream in the City of Carnation that the dam has failed and catastrophic damage is imminent, Snoqualmie Valley Record reported. The alarms alert residents to the danger and prompt them to evacuate. However, each of the alarms has been false, spurring a slew of frustrations and concerns about what might happen if the dam actually fails.
The City of Seattle owns and operates the Tolt Reservoir and the Tolt Dam. SPU recently finished updating the alarm system at the Tolt Dam, an aging system that caused the alarms. Despite improvements, another false alarm was triggered on March 27, infuriating the community which doesn’t even benefit from the dam or the reservoir it creates. State Senator Brad Hawkins, a Republican, announced his intent to file a bill that would require the SPU to pay a fine for each future false alarm.
City of Seattle
The money would go toward projects that benefit the City of Carnation, such as road improvements, emergency evacuation preparations, community activities and mental health counseling for those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and stress caused by the alarms signaling imminent danger that never comes, Snoqualmie Valley Record reported.
Hawkins is confident the bill would pass. He expects it to appear in the 2025 legislative session.
Newsweek reached out to Hawkins’ office by phone and to the SPU by email for comment.
Stress is high in Carnation with each alarm, causing a physiological impact according to Mayor Jim Ribail.
“We had elderly people just walking out into the front yard, expecting a wall of debris to come down and they’re gonna pass away because they couldn’t evacuate,” Ribail said in a report by KUOW.
It also raises concerns that residents won’t evacuate if a true emergency occurs because of how many false alarms have sounded over the years.
“It’s the whole ‘boy that cried wolf’ analogy,” Ribail told KUOW. “If it really is an emergency, you know, people aren’t gonna evacuate.”
If the dam were to fail, water could inundate the City of Carnation. Residents are instructed to evacuate by either car or foot. An evacuation trail begins at the east end of NE 50th Street. Another trail begins on East Entwistle Street. For vehicular evacuation, motorists are encouraged to follow the route signs north on State Road 203 to Stillwater Hill Road.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.