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Yakima county says contamination at Boise Cascade mill is holding up I‑82 East‑West corridor
Summary
At a Senate Transportation Committee work session, Yakima County told lawmakers it is ready to move forward on the I‑82 East‑West Corridor but is awaiting Ecology guidance and a consent decree tied to cleanup of wood waste and contaminated soil at the Boise Cascade mill site; Ecology said it needs a county work plan before filing the decree.
Yakima County told the Senate Transportation Committee on March 2 that it is prepared to start construction on the long‑planned I‑82 East‑West Corridor but cannot proceed until technical and legal questions about cleanup at the former Boise Cascade mill site are resolved.
County Engineer Matt Petrushevitz said the county has been pursuing the corridor for decades and secured nearly $50 million in state Connecting Washington funds for part of the project. He said the county has relocated about 10 homes to make way for the corridor at a cost the county listed as $3,400,000 total — roughly $340,000 per home — and that local officials are committed to completing the work.
"We have moved 10 homes," Petrushevitz said. "We want to remove this wood waste. We don't want to dump it in the river. We want to remove it responsibly and we…
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