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As trash piles up, county dumps set for weekend closures

Published 3:17 pm Wednesday, May 4, 2022

By Herald Staff

A worker maneuvers a front-end loader around a gigantic pile of garbage Friday, April 29, 2022, at the Airport Road Recycling and Transfer Station in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
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A worker maneuvers a front-end loader around a gigantic pile of garbage Friday, April 29, 2022, at the Airport Road Recycling and Transfer Station in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
A worker maneuvers a front-end loader around a tower of garbage April 29 at the Airport Road Recycling and Transfer Station in Everett. (Ryan Berry / Herald file)

EVERETT — Snohomish County’s garbage drop boxes and transfer stations are closing for the first time since 2008 during the coming two weekends so crews can catch up and clear out trash.

Snohomish County Solid Waste set the closures for Saturday and Sunday, May 7, 8, 14 and 15.

Health and safety precautions are being taken because of pileups, which could combust, at the county’s dumps. Organisms eat the organic matter in the trash, generating heat. If there’s nowhere for the heat to go, it can ignite.

The county doesn’t have enough shipping containers, and contractors have been short-staffed since the new year started. That’s created a backlog of trash piling up at the main dumps. The Airport Road and Southwest recycling and transfer stations are near their capacity, according to the county.

The Snohomish County Council approved a $2 million, six-month emergency contract for Waste Management to haul the trash to Oregon.

Solid Waste facilities will be open during normal weekday operating hours.

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