10 years ago 1998
n One of the largest pieces of land available for environmental protection in the Snohomish River delta will be set aside after an agreement signed Monday afternoon. The Tulalip Tribes, representing Tulalip Landfill trustees, will be the owners of 226 acres of land in Marysville, which will one day be a restored wetland. The trustees, using about $740,000 collected from polluters to the Superfund landfill, brought what was known as the Poortinga property, bordering Ebey Slough, east of Marysvilles wastewater treatment plant. Plans for the property are at least a year away when trustees hope to know how much money they will have to spend on the project, said Tom McKinsey, representing the Tribes. Possibilities range from a freshwater wetland, which is possible now with little extra work, to a fully restored tidal wetland which could involve breaking the Ebey Slough dike. The trustees would like to buy other properties that lie in the same flood plain, said Daryl Williams, manager of the Tribes environmental department. McKinsey said that restoring the wetland would be in conjunction with neighbors, including the city of Marysville, who also own property in the plain. We have no interest in taking anybodys property, he said. Buying the property allows the trustees to make up for damage to the local environment caused by decades of the leaking landfill. The landfill continues to leak toxic chemicals and heavy metals near the mouth of the river and the sloughs. The main beneficiaries of the purchase will be the critters as McKinsey calls them especially fish but also birds and other river-dependent animals. Williams could barely contain his enthusiasm to begin work on the land. I wish we didnt have to wait a year, he said. Plans for the property will be subject to a public process, McKinsey said, but already Williams has ideas. We are talking in-house about an interpretive center, he said, adding that such a facility would need its own money. Money for the restoration will be coming from some of the biggest polluters at the landfill, who have yet to settle with the trustees. The landfill was capped nearly 20 years ago. The Superfund law creates trustees for sites, and in the case of Tulalip, the group includes the federal departments of Interior and Commerce, the Tulalip Tribes and the state Department of Ecology. The Qweloot property the trustees have decided to call it after the Lushootseed for productive marsh coincides with other efforts to restore area salmon runs. Williams explained that there are few areas in the delta that allow salmon to adjust to salt water before heading out to sea. Tidal wetlands are a mix of fresh and salt water and help ease the fish transition. One hope Williams has for Qweloot is to remove a tidal dam at the mouth of Allen Creek. It would allow ocean tides to flow up the creek and allow more access to fish. It would require the consent of the city of Marysville Williams said rare high tides could bring salt water as far up stream as Jennings Memorial Park. Flooding the property will either require buying the other properties in the 500-year flood plain or building new dikes to protect them. We would like to restore as much of the estuary as we can, Williams said. The Ebey Dike was built in 1902. As for the current residents, McKinsey said Peter Poortinga will keep his dairy heifers through the fall. He is moving his business to a new farm near Island Crossing where he already has cows. The trustees paid about $740,000 for the property which Poortinga began buying in the 1950s. The Tribes were scheduled to legally take ownership of the land yesterday.

25 years ago 1983
n It may have been said before, but Bob Jones said it one more time for the countys benefit at last Thursdays public meeting to help determine a new regional solid waste dump site for Snohomish County. It seems to me that you want none of the sites; that you want the people to tell you they dont want any of these sites so that pressure can be put on to have the Cathcart site expanded, Jones said of the potential eight sites still in the running to replace the Cathcart Landfill. Jones, a professional civil engineer with Meyring and Associates of Edmonds, is a resident of the Edwards Spring-Lake Loma area one of eight sites still under consideration as an alternative to Cathcart. The current eight sites are expected to be narrowed down to three candidate sites in August, the countys Department of Public Works using information collected at last Wednesdays and Thursdays meetings to make a final determination. Personally, I think Sites A, B and C are the worst places to have a landfill, Jones told the countys Solid Waste Advisory Committee. But, like all the other people here, I live in an area thats being considered, so maybe its natural that Id feel that way. Actually, none of these make any sound engineering sense. How could this county the solid waste people overlook the serious issue of water source and their past record of landfill construction? Eliminate A, B and C quickly and dont waste any more money on studying them. All three of the candidate sites lie in the Seven Lakes area, a source of drinking water for 8,000 to 10,000 homes. Site C is across a road from Edwards Springs Reservoir, which is a major source of drinking water for the city of Marysvilles utility serving upwards of 15,000 people. The eight remaining sites under consideration were culled from the original list of about 70. Kitty Sennett, a resident of the vicinity of Site C, attended both public meetings and presented county solid waste officials with a 500-signature petition opposing Sites A, B and C. Sennett said she believes there are two fatal flaws in the Recommended Possible Site Areas report by Paramatrix Inc., of Bellevue, the consulting firm hired by the county to help determine a replacement for Cathcart. She told the countys solid waste officials she believes outdated data was used to evaluate the 70 sites, and no filed studies were conducted to properly evaluate the specific subjects in the Physical Environment category. How can the county justify paying Paramatrix thousands of dollars for a report that is based on outdated data and where no field studies have been conducted? The major portion of testimony given at the two four-hour meetings was directed at the impacts a landfill would have on neighboring people and environment.

50 years ago 1958
n Rural residents must have box numbers on the mail boxes. The mounted carrier route number and road name must be on the boxes said Postmaster Leon Stock. He stated that the office has grown too large to able to hunt around in order to deliver mail. Roads in the area around Marysville are now marked by signs and residents may obtain their correct mailing address number from the post office. Mail must be properly addressed in order to be delivered, said Stock. The mounted carrier has now been operating for six months. Each residence is numbered and every road has either a name or number. The Marysville post office now serves 11,000 patrons. Some of these receive mail at the post office rather than at their place of residence. Only the mailing address is of interest to the postal authorities.