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MIPD Marine Patrol Unit, city maintenance crews engage in lake debris cleanup

Published 3:30 pm Friday, May 1, 2026

By Andy Nystrom

A barge filled with about 200 tons of debris from Lake Washington is pulled past the boiler building off Luther Burbank Park. Photo courtesy of the city of Mercer Island
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A barge filled with about 200 tons of debris from Lake Washington is pulled past the boiler building off Luther Burbank Park. Photo courtesy of the city of Mercer Island

A barge filled with about 200 tons of debris from Lake Washington is pulled past the boiler building off Luther Burbank Park. Photo courtesy of the city of Mercer Island
A Mercer Island Police Department Marine Patrol Unit officer pulls a log out of Lake Washington. Photo courtesy of the city of Mercer Island

For the last month and a half or so, the Mercer Island Police Department (MIPD) Marine Patrol Unit and city maintenance crews have teamed up with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to fill one barge three times with a massive amount of trees, large logs and other debris floating in Lake Washington.

The overall cleanup began in late 2025 when an immense amount of water runoff from heavy rains barreled down the Cedar River in Renton and brought debris into Lake Washington.

“When they hit the lake, they become hazards to navigation. They become hazards to homeowners along the waterfront, or the potential damage to boats and docks,” said MIPD Commander Jeff Magnan.

Cleanup has taken place in the Mercer Island, Bellevue and Renton areas, and thus far they’ve pulled 600 tons of debris from the lake. Most of the debris was loaded onto the barge and pulled through Lake Union for disposal at the ship canal. In the early stages of the cleanup, debris was dragged onto the MI boat ramp to be cut up and disposed of through Recology.

“U.S. Army Corps of Engineers was key because we could take care of a lot of this in the water with their cranes and their barges,” added Magnan, noting that it became arduous for MI city staff to do the job on its own at the start.

MIPD receives multiple calls on a daily basis regarding logs floating in the water and it could take them months to complete the cleanup. Magnan estimates they’re about 50% done with the cleanup job, and thus far MIPD hasn’t heard of any injuries from the debris.

MIPD’s efforts change on a daily basis, said Magnan, adding that boating season is starting and they’ll be assisting the public, conducting education stops, enforcing marine violations as necessary along with taking care of the debris on the lake.

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