Update: Snohomish County canceled the closure for Sunday, Sept. 25. The notification went out Friday, Sept. 23.
SNOHOMISH COUNTY — Backups in transferring trash by rail caused Snohomish County to close all county dumps Sundays, Sept. 18.
“We continue to have railway transportation issues from our county facilities to regional landfills. The railway slowdown is causing the garbage to pile up at our transfer stations,” county Public Works Director Kelly Snyder said in a county press release.
The closures are despite a strike among freight railroad workers being tentatively averted last week through federal intervention. The new deal was brokered Thursday, Sept. 15.
Monroe’s public cleanup day for bulky trash Sept. 17 was still able to go on.
Green waste
temporary halt
The county’s dumps temporarily stopped accepting yard debris at all facilities because the trash pileup is contaminating the green yard waste, the county said. It means the contaminated green waste was being thrown out with general trash and is not compostable.
“This is also contributing to the backlog of waste in the facilities,” the county said.
The county is encouraging residents to take green waste and wood debris to alternate locations such as Bailey Compost of Snohomish (360-568-8826).
