Dump in Mountlake Terrace to close for remodel

Published 11:43 am Friday, February 22, 2008

MOUNTLAKE TERRACE — There is a light at the end of that long line to dump your junk at the Mountlake Terrace transfer station and recycling area. But it won’t be bright until Summer of 2004 when Snohomish County will open its brand new Southwest site.

The last day the Mountlake Terrace transfer station and recycling area will be open is March 16.

“We’ve had a lot of back ups in the street before, but this will be much more convenient for people to use and get through,” said Snohomish County solid waste director Jeff Kelley-Clarke.

According to Kelley-Clarke disposal needs have outgrown the current facility and a new station has been designed to accommodate area growth. The new facility, mostly covered, will feature a new “flat floor” design, additional scale houses, a new expanded recycling area and additional holding lanes to keep traffic off the street, he said. Private and city property was also acquired in order for the expansion to happen. A parcel of property formerly used by a moving company, across the street from the current site will be used as the new, larger recycling center. It will have larger easier to use containers and a staff member will be stationed there to keep the area clean, he said.

The plans were started in 1998 but were delayed for about two years, Kelley-Clarke said.

They had to wait for permits to work in a on property stream bed, Hall Creek.

Despite barriers downstream which prevent salmon from swimming through at this time, Kelley-Clarke said “we need to realign the stream and make it salmon friendly for the future.”

Improvements to SWRTS will reduce future delays for customers and provide improved service for both garbage haulers and recyclers, Kelley-Clarke said.

“Together with construction of the new transfer station near Paine Field (opening Summer 2003), improvements to recycling facilities at the North County Transfer Station, the opening of the Hazardous Waste Drop-off Station in Everett in 1999, and other service and efficiency upgrades,” he said, “this project is helping to create a modern solid waste system designed to meet the county’s solid waste needs for more than 20 years into the future.”