It was filed against Snohomish County and the state of Washington. This marked the beginning of a long courtroom battle for victims that would stretch over the next four years.

Residents in Darrington and surrounding areas were forced to detour up into Skagit County, driving miles to link up with the rest of the western Washington road system. In the days and weeks following the slide, a storm of opinions, thoughts and options were discussed. The result was a new, one-mile section of Highway 530 now is up to 20 feet higher in some places than the former road bed was.

Two-way traffic would resume on June 20. The reopening date was well before estimated, though road workers did express concern about the pace of work.

It claimed Snohomish County and the state Department of Natural Resources were negligent.

The 12-member independent committee was led by Kathy Lombardo, a geologist and included local and state officials from around the state. Their final report was delivered on Dec. 15, 2014 and is 59 pages long.

The week prior, 43 trees were planted in remembrance of the victims.

A 59-page report released by the DNR looked at logging practices in the area surrounding Steelhead Haven. The report, “is based on approximately 10,000 pages of electronic and paper documents, and seventeen interviews conducted by DNR with current and former staff, and external individuals who participated in or had knowledge of the area’s regulatory history.”

King County Superior Court Judge Roger Rogoff held that only those who attended a 2006 meeting about flooding and other hazard risks in the Steelhead Haven area or “who relied on the substance” of information shared at that meeting, could press claims that they were insufficiently warned. In 2006, Highway 530 sank six inches in February of that year between Arlington and Darrington. A Herald story at the time titled “Slump in hill may isolate Darrington” stated, “The fear of a big slide was underscored by the massive collapse two weeks ago of a hillside just a mile away that blocked and diverted the Stillaguamish River.” Eight years later, that was exactly what happened.

Congresswoman Suzan DelBene first introduces the “National Landslide Preparedness Act” to Congress. It would be officially introduced in 2020 and signed into law in 2021. The law instructed the USGS to develop strategy for landslides and increase mapping abilities of slide-prone areas. The law is up for renewal this year.