Wenatchee Preparing for Last Months of Saddle Rock Remediation Project

The City of Wenatchee will pay Hurst Construction almost $700,000 to complete the years-long project to remove waste rock from around Saddle Rock.

Phase 2 of the Interim Remedial Action project will clear the last remaining waste rock pile in the area while strengthening the trail and combating erosion.

Charlotte Mitchell with the City of Wenatchee said the Jacobsen Preserve side of Saddle Rock will be open, but visitors wont be able to get to the top of Saddle Rock.

"We're planning to start mid-July for construction. We figure there will be lesser traffic then," Mitchell said, "I would plan for it to be closed most of the rest of the summer."

The 325 acre property that is now owned by the city was for 100 years owned by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Through most of its time owned by the DNR it was the site of small mining operations. These operations created piles of waste rock that have been contaminating the nearby soil with arsenic and other toxic metals.

After the City of Wenatchee purchased the Saddle Rock Natural Area in 2011, work was continued to figure out how concentrated certain metal contaminants were within the soil. After finding several waste rock piles, work was split between two phases.

Phase 1 was completed in 2019.

Two state grants totaling $2.1 million has helped fund the cleanup.