2010/03/31 Council Agenda Packet

r, j; The Puget Sound Pulp and Paper Mill occupied a large upland area at what was in 1891 the riverfront of the town , of Lowell. The lumber mill operation had several owners during the following years, and became part of the =` ' Simpson Logging Company in 1951. The use of the site for milling and other lumber activities included the • incremental filling of the site with imported material to 'r raise the Simpson Pad, as the area became known, out of the Snohomish River flood zone. Historic, natural water flows were disturbed in the process and diverted around i the pad. Today the Simpson Pad is elevated above flood aim events, but is surrounded by water and wetlands on all Archival image of timber industry use of the sides. Snohomish. The Landfill site north of the Simpson Pad will be privately developed as a mixed-use property. The area F. < i#t was used as a dump site from 1917 to 1974, after which a ,,r .-- .' recycling center and storage facility was in place from . ..... t,I �4" 1977 to 1983. The Landfill site remains infamous for two Tire Fire events in 1983 and 1984, the latter of which M.. burned for three months and received international press `=1 attention. Subsequent cleanup operations began in 1985 441141111441141111 Itaib-i ,-- ,.~ � and continued to 1994. This portion of the Riverfront ., .--�H 1 --d`' Development site now has a leachate collection system in r - place to isolate and remove polluted groundwater and A Lowell neighborhood sawmill. avoid contamination of the river, as well as a methane collection system to remove accumulated gases. The city successfully negotiated a cleanup action plan with the Washington State Department of Ecology to allow development to occur on the site. The longstanding use of the Riverfront Development site for railroad traffic has left a significant imprint. The r., elevated railroad beds stretch the length of the site, in � -.**00.2,..,,t�` r`�- long, straight lines and in sweeping arcs so large the : —,....,,,...,,-_-40,„:- ,' ''t 1" ' •-- -r- ' ` curvatures are barely discernable from the ground. These r : ':,. „�., - linear raised railbeds created poorly drained ditches ': , ,„ 1 x between the sets of tracks, drainage ditches now - C.- classified and protected as wetlands. The transformation The 1984 tire fire drew international attention. of this post-industrial landscape to a more naturalistic, pre-existing condition will require compensatory mitigation in response to any disruption of these man-made wetlands. The railroad beds of ballast rock reflect an earlier- infrastructure investment that may now be prohibitively expensive to remove or regrade. Cost efficiencies ,, _ encourage the reuse of the historic rail alignment and rock bedding, where feasible, for the construction of a , riverside trail, hence the "Railroad Corridor Trail" proposed here. This segment of trail accentuates the distinctive railroad character of part of the Riverfront Relic crane on the site of 3-Acre Park Development multimodal circulation system. 8 Riven-1-011i Development Public Amenities diaster Plan 45