Marysville staff pursue grants after tests find asbestos concerns at Hotel Marysville site

City officials told reporters and the council during a brief news conference at the June meeting that they intend to pursue grant funding to remove contaminated materials at the Hotel Marysville site and that initial testing shows some asbestos-containing materials may be present.

City Manager Jim Shadd briefed reporters that the city has applied for earlier remediation grants without success but plans to pursue another round of funding and to coordinate with the office of their congressional representative on potential project support. He said preliminary testing has found asbestos at some levels and that additional testing and regulatory review will determine whether material must be treated as hazardous waste and hauled to a higher-level disposal facility.

Shadd described a range of unknowns in subsurface conditions and said that, if the site must be handled as hazardous waste, cleanup costs could be significantly higher. During the public remarks he referenced a potential upper-range remediation figure of roughly $3,500,000 as an illustrative estimate pending further testing and bids; he also said the city is exploring a grant-focused “Plan A/Plan B” strategy and would continue sampling and technical review.

City staff said they will continue testing, work with environmental consultants and pursue available grant opportunities to cover removal and disposal costs. No formal council action or contract award for remediation was taken during the meeting; staff presented the status to reporters and indicated they would return with more complete technical and cost information.