Everett Smelter Site

The Department of Ecology is cleaning up lead and arsenic contamination left behind by the Everett Smelter, in residential and industrial areas of Northeast Everett starting mid-to-late July at the intersection of SR 529 and East Marine View Drive. The project will significantly affect traffic in the area for about 3 months. Visit the Ecology website for information and updates on the project.

How can I find out more about the Everett smelter site?

In the early 1900s, Asarco operated a smelter near the intersection of Broadway and E. Marine View Drive in north Everett. The smelter and its smokestack polluted most of the soil in northeast Everett. Even at low levels, arsenic and lead are toxic and unsafe to breathe.

The state cleanup agency, the Washington State Department of Ecology (Ecology), identified a sizeable area affected by the former smelter. The Snohomish Health District issued a health advisory – recommending precautionary steps people should take who live or work within this Community Protection Area (PDF) in northeast Everett.

Since this discovery in the early 1990s, the City and the northeast Everett community have been working with Ecology, the state Legislature and others to get the area cleaned up and the neighborhood restored.

After Asarco removed the most highly contaminated soils from the site, the Everett Housing Authority took over the former smelter property and the cleanup, with help from Ecology and the City. The housing authority sold the cleaned up property to Barclays North, Inc. New townhouses were constructed on the site of the former smelter. The now-cleaned-up area was the most severely contaminated part of the site.

To find out more information about the Everett Smelter Site, contact the Department of Ecology at 425-649-7200.

King County's website also provides some information on arsenic and lead facts. Return to FAQs.