By William Lider / Herald Forum
Snohomish County needs a new fire marshal. Snohomish County’s Planning and Development Services Director Mike McCrary doubles in that position, responsible for cranking out as many building permits as fast as possible, while as fire marshal he is responsible for the life and safety review of building permits. This double-duty by McCrary creates the appearance of a conflict of interest, if not a direct conflict of interest.
The planning and developemnt director sets the tone for the entire department, including the fire marshal’s office. His subordinate’s performance reviews, pay raises, and continued employment depend on his staff performing to his expectations. An example of this conflict is the controversial Northpoint Apartment project at 1010 228th St. SW, Bothell, at the old Fruhling site with a 150-foot deep landfill that generates substantial amounts of explosive methane gas.
Methane is formed by decomposing organic material in the landfill. Methane is odorless and lighter than air. It will accumulate under the five-story apartment buildings producing hazardous levels of explosive gas. Indeed there were several previous methane explosions, one that injured a Fruhling employee in a manhole that Northpoint somehow forgot to mention in its permit application.
Northpoint, as developer, proposes to construct a “methane mitigation” system to address this hazardous waste problem; but “methane mitigation” is just a euphemism for a hazardous waste treatment system. County code rightfully prohibits residential construction on sites with a hazardous waste treatment system, especially ones with five-story apartment buildings!
A recent public records request documented that the county planning department has never before approved a methane mitigation system for any residential project in the county. Yet McCrary’s department is doing backflips to approve Northpoint’s project by hiring an outside third party to review Northpoint’s proposed hazardous waste treatment facility.
When I asked the senior fire marshal reviewing this project why the fire marshal’s office was proceeding with approval of this fatally flawed project, he responded that this was a zoning issue to be handled by the county planning department, even though he is in the same department. When asked how Snohomish County would respond to a methane alarm, his answer was, “I hope that does not happen.”
Would you want to drive across a bridge where the engineer said, I hope it does not fall down?
A methane alarm is not like a smoke alarm from a fire that can be easily cleared. A methane alarm will require the long-term evacuation of hundreds of apartment residents. The county planner responsible for overseeing approval of Northpoint’s permits will not respond to public comments about these zoning irregularities. Rather the Planning and Development Services office is proceeding with project approval, that will force an expensive appeal by concerned citizens. It is simply ridiculous to proceed with further permit reviews of this fatally flawed methane project that is not zoned for a residential application.
It is time for County Exercutive Dave Somers to act. Make the fire marshal’s office independent of the planning department and appoint a fire marshal who will uphold the county code and put the public’s safety above developer profits.
William Lider is professional engineer and lives in Lynnwood.
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