Asarco cleanup effort comes to Everett homes

EVERETT — The state plans to dig up the lawns and topsoil from 21 homes in north Everett starting today to clean arsenic contamination left from the former Asarco smelter that closed 100 years ago.

It’s part of the ongoing effort to rid as many as 500 homes and three parks of the decades-old pollution. The work on this round of homes around East Marine View Drive and 8th and 9th streets is expected to take three to five months.

Each yard will be restored with fresh topsoil, grass and landscaping. “We’re working in areas closest to the smelter (where the contamination is the highest) and working our way out,” said Meg Bommarito, a manager in the state’s toxics cleanup program.

The Department of Ecology, the city of Everett and the Everett Housing Authority also are gearing up to clean the three parks in north Everett: American Legion Memorial, Wiggums Hollow and Viola Oursler Overlook.

They hope to start on American Legion next year and finish in 2015, Bommarito said. The work on the other two parks is scheduled to begin in 2015 and finish in 2016.

They’ve moved up the timeline for cleaning the parks after the Legislature set aside $4.75 million this year for the effort. It was originally scheduled to occur after all the homes were cleaned. “That was a huge piece of funding to be able to start that sooner than we originally planned,” Bommarito said.

Asarco, a mining and smelting company, operated the Everett smelter from 1894 to 1912 at what is now the intersection of E. Marine View Drive and Highway 529. The smelter’s smokestacks rained arsenic onto a square-mile area of north Everett.

But the contaminaton wasn’t discovered until decades later in 1990. Arsenic is not absorbed through the skin but there is a long-term risk of developing cancer for people who swallow contaminated soil over a period of years, such as if children play in the dirt and put their hands in their mouths.

The state, the city and the Housing Authority have cleaned up around 200 properties. Much of the work has been done as money has become available over the years.

In 2009, the state received $34 million in a settlement from Grupo Mexico, a mining company based in Mexico City that acquired Asarco, and that money is being used for the cleanup. It is part of a larger $188 million settlement to repair environmental damage here and in other parts of the state, including Tacoma.

But that will not cover all of the costs for the clean up. The state has used about $15 million of the settlement so far including the work contracted for this year, Bommarito said.

The state agency is also investigating industrial properties along the waterfront and areas east of East Marine View Drive for contamination.

Bommarito said the state is hopeful that fewer properties will need to be cleaned up. She said they have found less contamination and it’s in shallower ground as they’ve tested soil further away from the smelter.

The contamination at the parks was discovered in 2011. The state recommends that anyone who visits the parks wash their hands and toys with soap and water after playing in the dirt, wash their hands before eating and take off their shoes when they get home.

Bommarito said the state will work with the city’s parks staff before the work on the three parks begins.

“We have not started talking to (the park’s staff) about which areas will be handled and how it will be handled,” Bommarito said. “I know they’re anxious to get as much contamination out of the parks as possible.”

People who have questions or concerns about the efforts to clean arsenic out of soil in north Everett can meet with state Department of Ecology workers from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Liberty Hall, Everett Community College, on the corner of 10th Street and Broadway. A consultant will also be available from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday at the work sites.

People can also get more information by calling a state hotline at 425-446-1024.

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.

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.

Former Snohomish County sheriff’s deputy Jeremie Zeller appears in court for sentencing on multiple counts of misdemeanor theft Wednesday, March 27, 2024, at Snohomish County Superior Court in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
Ex-sheriff’s deputy sentenced to 1 week of jail time for hardware theft

Jeremie Zeller, 47, stole merchandise from Home Depot in south Everett, where he worked overtime as a security guard.

Everett
11 months later, Lake Stevens man charged in fatal Casino Road shooting

Malik Fulson is accused of shooting Joseph Haderlie to death in the parking lot at the Crystal Springs Apartments last April.

T.J. Peters testifies during the murder trial of Alan Dean at the Snohomish County Courthouse on Tuesday, March 26, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Bothell cold case trial now in jury’s hands

In court this week, the ex-boyfriend of Melissa Lee denied any role in her death. The defendant, Alan Dean, didn’t testify.

A speed camera facing west along 220th Street Southwest on Tuesday, Nov. 21, 2023 in Edmonds, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
New Washington law will allow traffic cams on more city, county roads

The move, led by a Snohomish County Democrat, comes as roadway deaths in the state have hit historic highs.

Mrs. Hildenbrand runs through a spelling exercise with her first grade class on the classroom’s Boxlight interactive display board funded by a pervious tech levy on Tuesday, March 19, 2024 in Marysville, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lakewood School District’s new levy pitch: This time, it won’t raise taxes

After two levies failed, the district went back to the drawing board, with one levy that would increase taxes and another that would not.

Alex Hanson looks over sections of the Herald and sets the ink on Wednesday, March 30, 2022 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Black Press, publisher of Everett’s Daily Herald, is sold

The new owners include two Canadian private investment firms and a media company based in the southern United States.

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.