Contact:

Matt Phelps                                   Bill Craig

Communications Specialist II        Communications Specialist I

Matt.Phelps@snoco.org                Bill.Craig@snoco.org

425-388-3126                                425-388-3137

Snohomish County Solid Waste Facilities to be Open Regular Hours this Weekend

Crews worked to clear excess garbage from facilities and avoid Sunday closure

EVERETT, Wash., September 23, 2022 – All Snohomish County Solid Waste facilities will be open this weekend during regular business hours after a significant effort by county staff to clear excess garbage piles and return facilities to operational standards of safety. This work eliminates the need for a scheduled Sunday, September 25 closure of Solid Waste facilities, including all transfer stations and drop boxes.

“Our Solid Waste staff works tremendously hard, and most people do notice because everything runs so smoothly,” Snohomish County Public Works Director Kelly Snyder said. “But this is just an example of how efficient they are and how much pride we have in the work they do. We expected this to take two consecutive Sundays and they cut that time in half.”

The scheduled closures were put into place to allow staff to load a buildup of excess garbage at the facilities into extra shipping containers and get it hauled out to landfills on railways. However, a combination of extra containers and the county staff’s hard work on the first Sunday closure and throughout this week, avoided the need for the second Sunday closure.

“We also want to thank our partner organizations for the extra intermodal containers and their work in this process,” Snohomish County Solid Waste Director Dave Schonhard said. “We still have to be careful about keeping our facilities at a proper safety level when it comes to volumes, but it is good to get back to a reset point.”

Snohomish County continues to work closely with Republic Services, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe

Railway (BNSF), Waste Management, and local solid waste haulers, to find immediate resolutions to

the ongoing issues. Railway slowdowns and container shortages have caused issues with garbage transportation from Solid Waste facilities to landfills throughout 2022. Piles of refuse pose a risk of fire and other dangers to staff and customers. Safety remains Snohomish County’s number one priority.

Snohomish County has also temporarily stopped accepting yard debris at all facilities, as green waste and wood debris is being contaminated at Snohomish County facilities. This is also contributing to the backlog of waste in the facilities and uses valuable space in containers being transported for disposal in a landfill. The county is encouraging residents to take green waste and wood debris to alternate locations. A list of those local businesses is located at the end of the release.

As always, please recycle, reduce and reuse as is available by seeking out alternatives to disposing of recyclable material, such as donating reusable household items to thrift stores and using online second-hand market places.  

Here are the regular hours of operation this weekend for all Snohomish County Solid Waste facilities:

• Saturday and Sunday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  1. Airport Road Recycling & Transfer Station - 10700 Minuteman Drive, Everett, WA 98204
  2. North County Recycling & Transfer Station - 19600 63rd Avenue NE, Arlington, WA 98223
  3. Southwest Recycling & Transfer Station - 21311 61st Place West, Mountlake Terrace, WA 98043
  4. Dubuque Road Drop Box - 19619 Dubuque Road, Snohomish, WA 98290
• Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  1. Sultan Drop Box - 33014 Cascade View Drive, Sultan, WA 98294
• Saturday, 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
  1. Household Hazardous Waste Drop-Off Station - 3434 McDougall Avenue, Everett, WA 98201
• Sunday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
  1. Granite Falls Drop Box - 7526 Menzel Lake Rd, Granite Falls, WA 98252

Here is a list of alternate locations to take green waste and wood debris:

• Bailey Compost
  1. baileycompost.com
  2. Snohomish (360-568-8826)
  3. Yard waste only. No sod, dirt, or rocks.
• Cedar Grove Composting
  1. cedar-grove.com
  2. Everett, Woodinville, Kenmore (877-764-5748)
  3. No wood or limbs greater than 4 inches in diameter; no noxious weeds
• Lenz Enterprises
  1. lenz-enterprises.com
  2. Stanwood (360-629-2933)
  3. No mixed loads, treated lumber, dirt, or rocks
• Pacific Topsoils
  1. pacifictopsoils.com
  2. Woodinville, Everett, Kenmore (425-337-2700)
  3. No mixed loads, plywood, or treated lumber
• Reece Aggregates and Recycling
  1. reeceaggregatesandrecycling.com
  2. Arlington (360-403-7520)
  3. No treated lumber or garbage
• Riverside Topsoils
  1. riversidetopsoils.com
  2. Snohomish (425-379-9933)
  3. No treated wood or pallets

About Snohomish County Public Works

The Snohomish County Public Works Department constructs and maintains county roads; controls and manages surface water quantity, quality, and fish habitats; and oversees the recycling and disposal of solid waste. The department’s main office is located at 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett, WA 98201. For more information about Snohomish County Public Works, visit www.snohomishcountywa.gov/PublicWorks.