A 200-acre island in the Skykomish River near Gold Bar was like a wilderness island paradise until December, when law officers discovered a clandestine methamphetamine lab there.
Now the owner of the property, Cascade Land Conservancy, may be stuck with a $7,000 bill to clean up the toxic chemicals that remained.
Snohomish County prosecutors Thursday charged the man they believe was responsible for the lab with felony manufacture of a controlled substance.
The conservancy reported the possible lab in early December, and sheriff’s deputies found Shane Michael Tremberth, 38, of Gold Bar at a ramshackle, three-sided cabin in a clearing on the island, deputy prosecutor Matt Hunter said.
Tremberth reportedly ran away, hiding in a logjam on the river, but the defendant’s dog led officers to him, Hunter said. Tremberth was arrested, but later posted $5,000 bail.
In January, officers went to another location near Gold Bar and allegedly found Tremberth at a second makeshift meth lab in a trailer. He ran away but was arrested in April after reportedly trespassing in a trailer near Sultan, Hunter said.
The Skykomish River island is part of a 400-acre acquisition by the conservancy, which protects about 10,500 acres in Snohomish County through conservation easements and purchases.
Conservancy spokesman Steve Duphy said the nonprofit agency has gotten a bid to clean up the property, but the plan is still under consideration by health officials.
The conservancy is the state’s largest independent land conservation group and aims to protect wild and open lands.
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