Go East Corp Landfill

The site is near 4330 108^th Street SE, in unincorporated Snohomish County in the Silver Lake neighborhood south of Everett. See pictures of landfill construction on our Flickr account and the drone flight from July 6, 2022.

P&GE, LLC (P&GE) completed landfill closure in July 2022 in accordance with current regulatory requirements for limited purpose landfills.

The Construction Quality Assurance Report summarizes the permits and requirements, the project team, landfill closure activities, and the construction documents. This report provides supporting documents and records in appendices, including:

• The amended Landfill Closure Plans & Specifications are provided in Appendix B.
• The Construction Summary Report is provided in Appendix E.
• The Landfill Gas Monitoring and Contingency Plan is provided in Appendix J.
• The Landfill Gas Probe Installation technical memorandum is provided in Appendix K.
• The Northeast Slope Reconnaissance and Observations technical memorandum is provided in Appendix L.
• The Monitoring Well Soil Boring and Construction Logs are provided in Appendix N.
• The Record Drawings are provided in Appendix O.

Snohomish County Health Department renewed the closed limited purpose landfill permit, which is valid from July 1, 2022 to June 30, 2023. The post-closure permit requires P&GE to perform post-closure requirements for limited purpose landfills and to abide by the Agreed Order with Ecology.

Ecology determined that the current property owner, Century Communities of Washington, LLC (Century Communities), is a potentially liable person for the release of hazardous substances at the site. The Agreed Order was amended to include Century Communities as a party to the agreement.

• The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Report is under development.
• The Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study and Draft Cleanup Action Plan will be submitted for public comment.

The Agreed Order requires Century Communities to perform investigation activities under the state cleanup law, the Model Toxics Control Act. MTCA establishes standards that protect human health and the environment, which apply to all environmental media beyond the final boundary of the permitted landfill at this site.

The following documents were developed pursuant to the Agreed Order:

• The Interim Action Completion Report documents confirmation soil sampling performed during the excavation of the wedge area along the periphery of the original landfill. The report also describes confirmation soil sampling of imported fill material, the pre-construction sampling results (Appendix A), soil disposal documentation (Appendix C), asbestos-containing material documentation (Appendix D), an asbestos inspection summary for the excavated landfill material (Appendix E), and the lot exploration plan execution memorandum (Appendix F). The reconnaissance of the northeast slope is reported separately and included in Appendix L of the Construction Quality Assurance Report. An interim action addendum report was prepared that confirms soils were not impacted by potentially-contaminated stormwater management practices south of the landfill.

• The Remediation Investigation Work Plan describes the landfill property and history, the environmental setting, previous investigations, the preliminary conceptual site model, data gaps, and the remedial investigation field activities.

• The remedial investigation field activities have been completed. The 2022 fourth-quarter progress report provides summary tables for the remedial investigation groundwater and surface water sampling results from April 2021 to September 2022. The sampling results will be compared with proposed cleanup levels in the Remedial Investigation/Feasibility Study Report.

Status Update
Century Communities is coordinating with the adjoining property owners and Ecology, Snohomish County Planning and Development Services, and Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to restore the wetlands and stream.

Timeline
A mudslide occurred on northeastern portion of the Go East Corp. Landfill property on Sept. 17 and 18, 2021. The mudslide swept an estimated 500 to 700 cubic yards of imported clean soil downslope beyond the toe of the landfill. The incident occurred while crews constructed a planned access path to the toe of the landfill slope.

The mudslide occurred after clean fill material placed on the steep slope mobilized due to groundwater seepage and stormwater intrusion. The mudslide originated beyond the landfill boundary and deposited fill material beneath and beyond the toe of the landfill. No landfill material was observed in the mudslide. The mudflow extended across a wetland and to a stream on properties north and east of the property. The mudslide flowed across land owned by the 108th Street Point Homeowners Association, the Pinehurst at Waldenwood Homeowners Association, and the easement corridor for the Olympic Pipe Line Co.

A stable access path was subsequently constructed to the toe of the landfill to allow completion of the landfill closure activities. P&GE coordinated with the 108th Street Point Homeowners Association to stabilize the slope where the mudslide originated on their property.

The 40.9-acre Property sits atop the Vashon advance outwash sand formation, which outcrops where steep slopes are present on the east side of the Property. The Vashon advance outwash sand formation is underlain by low-permeability silt deposits referred to as the pre-Vashon lacustrine silt unit. The pre-Vashon lacustrine silt unit is estimated to be at least 110 feet thick beneath the Property.

In 1969, a conditional use permit was issued for sand excavation. Sand was excavated from a ravine on the northern part of the Property and used as construction fill for nearby construction projects. 

Rekoway, Inc. purchased the Property on February 1, 1972 and operated the landfill until 1980. Rekoway obtained a 10-year conditional-use permit from Snohomish County on March 8, 1972 to excavate sand and gravel and to operate a landfill by reclaiming the excavation area with solid waste. The permit authorized the disposal of “wood, mineral, and concrete solid materials, but not garbage or putrescibles.” In 1974-75, Rekoway was approved to accept “tires and bulk packaging material such as cardboard, pallets, large parcel wrappings, shredded paper, and warehousing waste material.” 

 In 1974, Rekoway accepted approximately 200 cubic yards of baghouse dust containing magnesium, phosphate, and aluminum dust into the landfill. A fire resulted from the oxidation of the buried metal dusts. The material was excavated, spread on the ground, and extinguished, and thereafter covered with soil. Partially burned trees and stumps caused a landfill fire in November 1976 that persisted through 1979. Snohomish County Health Department suspended the landfill permit in November 1977.

Go East Corporation conditionally purchased the Property in 1979 and requested reinstatement of the landfill permit to allow additional filling to level the landfill area for future development. Snohomish County Health Department issued a permit to operate a wood waste landfill on November 2, 1979. The permit expired on September 18, 1982. Go East Corporation stopped accepting waste in the summer of 1983 when Snohomish County issued a stop work order. Another landfill fire began in October 1983 and burned out by January 1986.

Snohomish County Health Department prepared a Site Hazard Assessment under the Model Toxics Control Act (MTCA) on May 14, 2004. The assessment recommended that the future residential development of the Property include and implement a landfill closure plan as proposed in 1999. Subsequently, Snohomish County Health Department issued a No Further Action letter on June 1, 2004 with confirmation from Ecology.

P&GE acquired the Property from Go East Corporation in May 2009.

Ecology prepared an initial investigation field report on June 13, 2019 based on available information. The report indicates that metals (commonly associated with anaerobic reducing conditions) were detected at concentrations exceeding MTCA cleanup levels in three groundwater samples collected from monitoring wells in 2009. The report also indicates that elevated concentrations of metals were detected in surface water samples collected from a stream that originates at the base of the landfill’s northeastern slope. The report also identified the presence of crushed drums on the northeast landfill slope. Based on information presented in the initial investigation field report, Ecology rescinded the 2004 No Further Action letter on June 18, 2019 and issued an Early Notice Letter on September 9, 2019. The Site is listed on Ecology’s Confirmed and Suspected Contaminated Sites List.

Century Communities purchased the property from P&GE on May 18, 2022. Century Communities is developing the 96-lot Bakerview Plat Subdivision on the property. Residential lots will adjoin the northwest, southwest, and southeast boundaries of the closed landfill. The closed landfill will be used for stormwater detention, a publicly-accessible recreation area, an emergency access road, and an open area. 

Snohomish County Health Department

Snohomish County Health Department issued a landfill permit for the closure of the Go East Corp Landfill in accordance with Chapter 173-350-400 of the Washington Administrative Code. The Health District’s approval of the Go East Landfill Closure Plan was affirmed by the state Pollution Control Hearings Board. Snohomish County Health Department intends to renew the closed landfill permit annually.

Ecology’s Solid Waste Management Program supports the Health District but is not the regulatory agency for the landfill permit. 

Snohomish County Planning and Development Services 

Snohomish County Planning and Development Services issued an initial land disturbing activity permit for the initial rough grading (including landfill closure activities) and a second land disturbing activity permit for plat development. The land disturbing permits were subject to the State Environmental Policy Act. Jared Anderson (425-231-8111) is the site inspector for the County.

Washington State Department of Ecology

Ecology’s Water Quality Program grants a Construction Stormwater General Permit. Ecology maintains Bakerview Everett stormwater permit documents on a separate website. 

Ecology’s Solid Waste Management Program oversees cleanup of the site under the Model Toxics Control Act.

Ecology’s Shorelands and Environmental Assistance Program works to ensure the protection of wetland resources.

Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife issued a Hydraulic Project Approval permit for the relocation of a stream on the property and requires a second hydraulic project approval permit for stream restoration due to the mudflow incident. Hydraulic Project Approvals ensure that construction projects in or near state waters are done in a manner that protects fish and their aquatic habitats.

To report an environmental problem or concern, any time, day or night.

Online reporting

Counties: Island, King, Kitsap, San Juan, Skagit, Snohomish, and Whatcom

Email: nwroerts@ecy.wa.gov
Phone: 206-594-0000

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