Tulalip Brownfields

In 2021, Tulalip Tribes started a tribal Brownfields program that identifies:

• Lands where pollution that contaminates land or water may be present within the boundaries of the Tulalip Reservation
OR
• In lands that could impact treaty-reserved fishing, hunting, and gathering rights
AND
• Where the contaminated property could be cleaned-up and re-used for a new purpose

The Tulalip Brownfields program helps inform the community about contaminated land and provides grant resources from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to assess land pollution and its impact to nearby water, humans, and other biological resources (e.g., plants, animals) and to clean-up the area for re-use.

A number of Brownfield sites on the Tulalip Reservation were identified by the Tulalip Coordinated Enforcement Team. This Team is interagency and multi-disciplinary because the Reservation includes residents who use Snohomish County and Health District for permits/enforcement as well as tribal residents who use Tulalip Tribes permits/enforcement. The multi-jurisdictional Enforcement Team includes leadership, middle managers, Code Enforcement staff, planners, Natural Resources staff, police officers, and public health officers from Tulalip Tribes, Snohomish County and Snohomish Health District.

The Team has been working through the barriers and opportunities of nuisance properties on the Tulalip Reservation. Some of these nuisance properties have become Tulalip Brownfields. There is a conceptual model that shows how pollution from nuisance property can contaminate both land and water. The Coordinated Enforcement team adds land to a Parcels of Interest list when it is potentially contaminated or has other hazards on site.

When vacant or under-utilized land can be re-used for a community area, residence(s), business or other type of use, it becomes an official Brownfields site and is included in the Tulalip Brownfields Inventory. Any documents pertaining to Phase 1, Phase 2, any other kind of site assessments, clean-up plans, etc. that are ready for public release will have website links or an explanation for how the public can view these documents when available for each site/parcel on the Tulalip Brownfields Inventory.

The Tulalip Brownfields Program’s goal is to clean up pollution so that the Tulalip community can live in a healthy environment with opportunity to re-use vacant land.

The most current information on the Tulalip Brownfields Inventory or Parcels of Interest can be found through the Tulalip Natural & Cultural Resources Dept.

Contact

• Valerie Streeter (Tulalip Brownfields)

  Tulalip Natural & Cultural Resources Dept., TRP Grant Program manager

• Ginny Ramos (Coordinated Enforcement)

  Tulalip Planning Dept., Code Enforcement Officer