Grant allows Everett to make list of which polluted areas to clean

EVERETT — There are more than 1,000 places in Everett where gas stations, dry cleaners, auto repair shops or other small industries operated in the years when environmental rules were not as strict as they are today.

Oil, gasoline and chemicals at such businesses were not handled as carefully as they are now, Everett planning director Allan Giffen said. Most of those parcels are believed to contain some level of pollution.

Everett now has a federal grant to determine which of the parcels should be the first to be cleaned up.

The list will be made with an eye toward which parcels are most ripe to be redeveloped for the good of the city’s economy, Giffen said.

“By cleaning them up, we would give (property owners) an incentive for redevelopment,” he said.

The $400,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pay only for combing the state’s database of more than 1,000 sites, testing the soil and establishing priorities — not for the cleanup itself.

That money will have to come from an inspired developer or possibly the government, Giffen said.

Making the list would likely move a parcel up the ladder for potential grant funding, he said.

The work will determine the level of pollution and in turn provide an idea of the cleanup cost.

The assessment phase is expected to take three years.

The sites are not yet mapped — that’s part of the work, Giffen said. He said some parcels are downtown, near Everett Station, near Port Gardner and along the river.

“Many of the impacted properties are areas we hope to redevelop, but the unknown cleanup costs make it difficult for owners to plan for new uses,” Mayor Ray Stephanson said in a written statement.

Stantec, an international consulting firm with an office in Bellevue, has been hired to map and assess the sites, working with the city and a 15-member advisory panel.

The Brownfield Advisory Committee is made up of officials from the city, the Port of Everett, Snohomish County, the Snohomish Health District, the state Department of Ecology and representatives from businesses, neighborhoods and environmental groups.

“Most any site can be cleaned up, it’s just a matter of having the resources to do it,” said committee member Mike Young, senior environmental health specialist for the Snohomish Health District.

Pollution from most of the larger industrial sources through Everett’s history, such as the Asarco smelter, the 1984 tire fire and locations on the waterfront has been cleaned up or is on a list to be addressed.

The “brownfields” to be studied generally are smaller and less likely to make a cleanup funding list.

It’s likely that they run the spectrum of uses, “from vacant to actively used for some other purpose,” Giffen said.

Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; bsheets@heraldnet.com.

More about the project

For more information about the brownfields survey, go to tinyurl.com/BrownfieldsGrant or call 425-257-8731.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Lynnwood
Crash in Lynnwood blocks Highway 99 south

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, fully blocked southbound lanes. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Kelli Littlejohn, who was 11 when her older sister Melissa Lee was murdered, speaks to a group of investigators and deputies to thank them for bringing closure to her family after over 30 years on Thursday, March 28, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘She can rest in peace’: Jury convicts Bothell man in 1993 killing

Even after police arrested Alan Dean in 2020, it was unclear if he would stand trial. He was convicted Thursday in the murder of Melissa Lee, 15.

Ariel Garcia, 4, was last seen Wednesday morning in an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Dr. (Photo provided by Everett Police)
Search underway to find missing Everett child, 4

Ariel Garcia was last seen Wednesday morning at an apartment in the 4800 block of Vesper Drive.

The rezoned property, seen here from the Hillside Vista luxury development, is surrounded on two sides by modern neighborhoods Monday, March 25, 2024, in Lake Stevens, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Despite petition, Lake Stevens OKs rezone for new 96-home development

The change faced resistance from some residents, who worried about the effects of more density in the neighborhood.

Rep. Suzan DelBene, left, introduces Xichitl Torres Small, center, Undersecretary for Rural Development with the U.S. Department of Agriculture during a talk at Thomas Family Farms on Monday, April 3, 2023, in Snohomish, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Under new federal program, Washingtonians can file taxes for free

At a press conference Wednesday, U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene called the Direct File program safe, easy and secure.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.