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Winner Announced in Tunnel Boring Machine Naming Contest

More than 35,000 votes cast to name TBM That Will Build Storage Tunnel to Reduce Water Pollution

SEATTLE (April 12, 2021) — We have a winner and it is a name with deep ties to Seattle! Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) today announced the tunnel boring machine (TBM) used to build Ship Canal Water Quality Project’s storage tunnel is named MudHoney.

MudHoney was the top vote-getter after more than 35,000 votes were cast to choose a name among the top five finalists. Since the late ’80s, Mudhoney, the Seattle-based foursome whose muck-crusted version of rock, shot through with caustic wit and battened down by a ferocious low end, has taken a stand against overflows into our waterways.

On April 9, project partners Seattle Public Utilities and King County Wastewater Treatment Division hosted the beloved Seattle band at the Ballard project site for the name and TBM art unveiling, created by muralist Devin Finley. County Executive Constantine, SPU General Manager Hara, and Councilmembers Pedersen and Strauss joined the event. To view and download b-roll of the unveiling, click here. Photos for use are available here.

In March, SPU received more than 1,200 TBM submissions from the community and announced the five finalists:

  1. Daphne (everyone’s favorite freshwater planktonic crustaceans)
  2. Molly the Mole (moles dig great holes)
  3. Boris the Plunger (JP Patches fans, this one’s for you)
  4. Sir Digs-A-Lot (We like big drills and we cannot lie)
  5. MudHoney (Because Seattle, baby!)

This summer, MudHoney will begin digging a 2.7-mile long, 18 foot-diameter storage tunnel to reduce Seattle’s sewer overflows by 2025. The Ship Canal Water Quality Project will prevent an average of 75 million gallons of polluted stormwater and sewage from entering our waterways each year.

To contact Mudhoney for an interview, email Bekah Zietz Flynn and Frank Nieto at press@subpop.com.

To contact Seattle Public Utilities for an interview, email sabrina.register@seattle.gov.

Learn more about Mudhoney .

Learn more about the Ship Canal Water Quality Project, a joint project between Seattle Public Utilities and King County Wastewater Treatment Division: http://www.seattle.gov/utilities/neighborhood-projects/ship-canal.

Learn more about Seattle Public Utilities: www.seattle.gov/utilities.