2011/04/20 Council Agenda Packet

PV1P rt?, Marysville �, 1:17 e� r April 18, 2011 The Honorable Ray Stephanson Councilmember Paul Roberts City of Everett Councilmember Jeff Moore 2930 Wetmore Avenue, Suite 10A Councilmember Arlan Hatloe Everett, WA 98201 Councilmember Ron Gipson Councilmember Drew Nielsen Councilmember Brenda Stonecipher Councilmember Shannon Affholter City of Everett, Suite 9A Dear Mayor Stephanson and City of Everett Councilmembers: On behalf of the City of Marysville and the Tulalip Tribes, we request your attention in addressing a serious problem afflicting our communities. The regional yard and food waste operations conducted at Cedar Grove Composting located within the city of Everett have created significant environmental concerns for our community members. We ask for your diligence in ensuring that existing operations be monitored closely to ensure compliance with existing regulations and permit conditions to control impacts to neighboring areas. In addition, we are aware of Cedar Grove's plans to expand their site use and operations. The preliminary application materials suggest a significant increase to their waste processing operations. We are very concerned that this may result in a corresponding increase in air, water, and land impacts to north Everett and areas north of Everett. We request that the City of Everett conduct a full Environmental Impact Statement under the State Environmental Policy Act on the permit application submitted by Cedar Grove Composting at its Smith Island site in Everett. We believe that the environmental impacts —to land, air, water, and species —are potentially significant and should warrant a full and thorough review and public process. Besides a number of listed endangered species in the adjacent ecosystem, there are additional concerns about wetland mitigation, habitat restoration, traffic and transportation impacts, overall footprint, water quality, air quality and widespread odor problems associated with Cedar Grove's Smith Island facility. As you know, both the City of Marysville and the Tulalip Tribes have become parties of record to Cedar Grove's permit application. As deeply interested parties, we are requesting a substantial and thorough review of the environmental issues through a formal EIS. We appreciate your consideration of this important issue and look forward to a response.