Topsoil operation near Monroe grounded

Snohomish County shut down an extensive topsoil operation on farmland late last month, saying a local company had abused an environmentally responsible way to deal with dairy-farm waste and developed a commercial enterprise on agricultural land.

The topsoil business is the latest use of farmland to be nixed by county code-

enforcement officers. Last spring, the county began citing ballfields that had been built on farmland. That's not a legal use of the land, either.

Pacific Topsoils bought 35 acres and a big barn on the Monroe-area site of Walt De Jong's former dairy in March 2003.

Dairy farmers like De Jong often mix manure with soil for use on the farm and for fill dirt.

But county officials say Pacific Topsoils crossed the line when it took over. Even though there are still some cows on the property, the county says the company's topsoil operation doesn't meet the county's qualification of being "incidental" to farming, as De Jong's was. To qualify as incidental, more than half of the topsoil must come from the farm, and more than half must be used by the farm, according to county guidelines.

The topsoil operation on High Bridge Road speaks to a fundamental tension in Snohomish County. Land prices are rising. Many farmers are quitting or moving to Eastern Washington. That leaves aging farmers such as De Jong, 66, with few options because no one wants to buy their land for farms. De Jong sold part of his land to a company that will make it into wetlands. And he sold 35 acres plus a grading permit to Pacific Topsoils, which started the topsoil operation there.

The county says Pacific Topsoils was also recycling glass and metal on the site, which is against the code.

Pacific Topsoils is appealing the county's citation. No one at the company would comment, but its attorney, Brent Carson, said the topsoil business was legal. The company is leasing barn space for cows, he said, and using the manure for topsoil, just as a farmer would.

In the meantime, neighbors are relieved that the constant grinding, rumbling and sifting have ceased.

"It's just like it used to be," said Cindy Wynakos, who lives across the road from the site. "I mean, we can actually have our windows open."

Wynakos wrote in a letter to the county a year ago that the constant beeping noise the machinery made while backing up was "like water torture."

She barely noticed the small topsoil operation at De Jong Dairy, she said. After Pacific Topsoils bought the land and started work last summer, a thin layer of dust covered her yard, and she had to close her windows to block out the racket. Dirt and construction debris piled up across the road, and trucks came and went every two or three minutes, she said. She watched as a huge grinder crushed a mobile home.

"I was just like, 'This is unbelievable,' " she said. "I just can't believe that that kind of thing could go on across the street."

It turns out, it couldn't.

Another Pacific Topsoils site shut down last year after the county started investigating. That site, off Lowell-Larimer Road between Snohomish and Everett, was similar to the Monroe-area operation, said Mike McCrary, a code-enforcement and inspection manager in the Snohomish County planning department.

The company may face fines of up to $250 per day, per violation, county planning director Craig Ladiser said. It had ignored a stop-work order the county issued June 22 for about a week, he said, and showed "blatant disregard for permit regulations."

De Jong is named in the citation because the grading permit is still in his name, but he probably won't be held responsible, planning officials said. He said he knows the topsoil operation has grown, but he hasn't noticed too many more trucks than he used at his dairy. As for recycling and illegal activity, he said, "I haven't paid much attention."

Emily Heffter: 425-783-0624 or eheffter@seattletimes.com