By Tim Clifford

For Burien resident Karen McMichael it was a surprise to see the orange colored fliers and bright orange spray painted dots that now pepper the trees on the corner of S.W. 144 St. and Ambaum Blvd. S.W. when she returned home from vacation on Friday.

According to the fliers any trees marked with orange are set to be cut down.
“The whole area effectively would be clear cut and these are old, very mature coniferous trees. An old maple, a beautiful old pine that has been well pruned and maintained over many years,” said McMichael on Feb. 21 while standing near the property.

When McMichael and her husband left for California last week talks were still being scheduled concerning the lot between Seattle City Light and the City of Burien.

Behind the trees and bushes, surrounded by fencing, lies what remains of an old substation that Seattle City Light is prepping for removal. SCL has been clearing out and then selling the land around these obsolete substations all across Seattle. Last year this effort was centered in northwest Seattle. This year it is in southwest Seattle.

When reaching out to the Westside Weekly McMichael initially expressed concern about the fate of the cherry tree that sits at the front corner of the lot closest to the street. Now adding to those concerns is the white sign that SCL has posted on the property that reads “ Neighbors: To avoid exposure to pesticides, we ask you please DO NOT DIG or DISTURB THE SOIL and KEEP CHILDREN OUT of the dirt.”

“Now, this is in a grassy area that is four feet wide and it’s a long strip, it’s not behind a fence, and yet they’re telling us this is a really bad area. It’s like a double message,” she explained at the site. As she was speaking it became necessary for her to step onto the grass for second as a man in a wheelchair moved past her.

As of this writing the cherry tree along with a very large cedar tree remain the only green aspects without orange dots and may still survive.

“The final disposition of the tree has not been determined yet, but the property in question is our former Ambaum substation and we are required to clean up the environmental contamination on the site from our previous uses,” explained Scott Thomsen, the Public Affairs contact for Seattle City Light, when asked about the cherry tree.

“[That] includes insecticides and herbicides, DDT and dieldrin, as well as cadmium and lead that is in the soil there,” continued Thomsen.

As he went on to explain it is not only the soil which is completely contaminated but the root ball systems of the surrounding trees as well. However there is an option for saving these contaminated trees, depending on the actual demand for such work.

“There is a process where you are essentially washing away all of the dirt, it’s kind of a slurry-ing process to remove the dirt from the roots of those trees and you are trying to preserve the trees,” he explained. This process costs approximately $9,800 per tree.

Due to the location of the tree and SCL’s intent to sell the property there are serious questions as to whether the money spent would be worth it and if keeping the tree would discourage future buyers.

“We are in discussions with the city of Burien about the city potentially purchasing it, and if they want to acquire the property and keep the tree in place we are having discussions about how that might happen,” he continued.
The supposed plans by Burien would be to turn the lot into pocket park.
Despite attempted calls earlier in the week to Mayor Lucy Krakowiak and Deputy Mayor Bob Edgar no comment could be obtained concerning these talks.

While McMichael seemed to be somewhat resigned to the fact that the future of the trees surrounding the substation looks dire she remained baffled at the thought of such a notable location being left barren or congested with construction. The intersection of 144th and Ambaum is essentially the sole access point to the Ed Munro Seahurst Park, the “jewel of Burien’s park system”.

“If this work goes forward we will be left with an empty lot, from what it sounds like, in a very prominent location in our city,” she explained.
While no official would offer an actual date that the trees will be removed McMichael remains hopeful that her concerns will reach the ear of someone in a position to save as many of the trees as possible.

“In any case it’s a question of calling and hoping you might be able to get a call back from somebody about what the situation is,” she explained.

As recently as last December the group West Seattle Green Spaces Coalition petitioned Seattle Parks and Recreation for the Ambaum site along with eight other former substation lots to be turned into open space. This petition was denied since Parks and Rec prefer spaces of 10,000 square feet or more for parks. Buying the properties privately was too costly an option for the group.