Tensions flare again over gravel yard next to Snohomish County school

Tensions are flaring again at a gravel yard in unincorporated Snohomish County that’s come under scrutiny since opening without permits directly next to an existing elementary school.

The county issued an emergency order last month to stop work at the Everett Aggregate Yard, which has drawn complaints from teachers and students about noise, truck exhaust and potentially unhealthy dust.

But the yard’s owner appealed the stop-work order this week, on the same day that school officials accused the company of violating the county’s order and eroding trust by continuing some operations at the site. The company is denying any wrongdoing, asserting that the yard is being used only for parking trucks, which the county says is acceptable.

“Regular visits to the site have occurred by a code enforcement officer since the emergency order was issued,” including on Friday, the county’s Planning and Development Services department said in a written statement. “No loading or unloading of trucks has been observed by staff.”

The saga began early last year after OMA Construction, which owns Mountain Loop Mine near Granite Falls, opened the 2.67-acre yard near Paine Field as a distribution hub for gravel, rocks and sand.

Next door is Fairmount Elementary School, which opened in 1952, and Pathfinder Kindergarten Center, which opened in 2017. Trucks began loading and unloading large piles of material about 50 feet away from the Mukilteo School District campus, separated from some classrooms and play areas by a driveway and a chain-link fence.

Although the property’s zoning is “Business Park,” a category that allows some industrial activities, the yard opened without proper permits and without having undergone an environmental review. The county issued an “illegal business” violation notice at the yard in May 2023.

Rather than shut down the yard immediately, officials directed OMA Construction to apply for permits by September and discussed noise and dust mitigation measures the yard could take. The county subsequently extended the yard’s compliance date to December and then February 2024 so the owner could prepare studies, plans and applications.

School officials became increasingly frustrated with the county as the months passed and teachers reported “loud bangs” from the yard disrupting their lessons, dust forcing them to keep their windows closed and indications of potential health impacts, such as coughing, bloody noses and headaches.

The discord spiked in January, when the dispute made news headlines and an attorney for OMA Construction sent a cease-and-desist letter warning Fairmount’s principal to stop making complaints. The company has mostly denied the claims about noise and dust, saying any impacts are being mitigated and promising to do more, like build a noise wall.

It seemed like things might quiet down last month, with OMA Construction at last submitting permit and site-plan applications and with the county ordering the yard to stop operating for the time being, due to zoning and noise violations.

But a legal battle is now brewing and new allegations have emerged. In appealing the county’s order Wednesday, an attorney for OMA Construction said the company has committed no violations and was originally cleared by officials to start operating at the site. Meanwhile, an attorney for the Mukilteo School District sent a letter to the county Wednesday accusing OMA Construction of defying the stop-work order.

“I was shocked” during a visit to the yard Monday, “to discover that OMA Construction was still operating,” Robert Smith from K&L Gates wrote, attaching photos. “OMA Construction was still loading trucks, which queued onsite, loaded with material, and then left the site after being weighed.”

About 45 minutes later, at a meeting between the school district and OMA Construction, the company “emphatically told us” they were no longer operating the yard, Smith said, demanding that the county consider criminal charges, impose fines and deny the company’s permit application.

“The county has been more than patient with OMA Construction while school teachers, parents and children have suffered the consequences,” he wrote. “Continuation of this public nuisance is unacceptable.”

In an interview Friday, a school district representative said recent activities at the yard have included loading and unloading on some occasions. The activities have been less intense than before but still disruptive, said Karen Mooseker, executive director of support services for the district.

“OMA Construction has lied to us, to the county and to the community that it has stopped operations at the site,” Mooseker wrote in an email.

“We have documented and witnessed ongoing operations for several days. This erodes any trust we could have in OMA that they will do the right thing. … The county must do more to shut them down and this should automatically end any consideration of a permit to operate.”

The local teachers union is unhappy with the yard’s continued use but appreciates the school district “taking a stand,” Tory Kartchner, president of the union, wrote in an email.

In an email and an interview Friday, OMA Construction Vice President Brandon Akers said the company has complied with the county’s emergency order, using the yard only for parking. Trucks load up with material at the mine, spend the night at the yard and then leave at various times during the day, Akers said, citing messages sent by the company’s dispatcher telling employees that normal operations have halted.

“We are not bringing in any aggregate or excavation soil or doing any other operations, nor are we loading any trucks with aggregate to haul out,” he wrote in an email. “The trucks are simply leaving out the gate from where they were parked overnight.”

Akers is “dumbfounded” by the allegations about loading and unloading, he said, suggesting school officials may be mistaken. The company is getting “very frustrated” with such claims, he said.

The county is taking no additional action against OMA Construction at the moment. The company’s appeal goes to the county’s hearing examiner.

“They own the property, and they can park vehicles there,” spokesperson Kent Patton said in an email Friday. “If our code enforcement officers observe loading or unloading, then that would violate the order.”