On Monday, August 25, 2025, a contractor for Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District will begin demolition of the existing 1-million gallon welded-steel Division 7 reservoir constructed in 1970. The reservoir location is near Swallow Circle in Gate 2. The water reservoir demolition is part of the District’s larger, multi-year effort to replace the aging tank with two 237,900 gallon reservoirs, together totaling 475,800 gallons. The project provides seismic improvements and implements an earthquake early warning system (ShakeAlert®) to automatically isolate a portion of the volume from rapid depletion due to possible water main breaks following an earthquake. 

Demolition will proceed in accordance with a pending Whatcom County Demolition Permit and Northwest Clean Air Agency approved demolition permit #25-413, attached. Lead was detected in the tank’s paint and primer and the contractor is required to perform lead abatement and containment in accordance with the applicable laws, regulations, and codes of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the Washington Industrial Safety and Health Act (WISHA) and any Federal, State, County or local requirements related to the demolition, handling, loading, transporting, recycling, and/or disposals of the materials related to this work. No asbestos was detected in the reservoir materials.

The demolition work is expected to take approximately 3 weeks and will be followed with site restoration. Please direct any project questions to Greg Nicoll, P.E., District Engineer for Lake Whatcom Water and Sewer District (360.734.9224, greg.nicoll@lwwsd.org).

Please note that the reservoir is not located on Sudden Valley property and Sudden Valley is not involved in this project.