Lewis County staff and the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) are transitioning their focus toward the recovery phase of this month’s flooding as the atmospheric river begins to die down.
Lewis County Solid Waste Disposal District No. 1, staff and commissioners convened for a special meeting Thursday afternoon to discuss the impacts of the floods, particularly in East Lewis County.
Most notably, staff asked Commissioners Lindsey Pollock and Scott Brummer to consider a resolution to waive a $65 fee per water testing sample, as Meja Handlen, director of county public health and social services, said the county is unable to fund this through its currently available grant funding.
“Due to the impacts of the persons’ well and septic systems in this area, the testing for this is $65. We also recognize that people driving in to pick up a bottle then driving back out to get the sample and driving back in to drop off the sample might be cumbersome,” Handlen said. “It may move us to have a staff located in the area, either at the emergency shelter or one of the traditional pickup sites, which is Morton City Hall, Randle Post Office or the Packwood Post Office. People can pick up water bottles and drop off water battles on Mondays, Dec. 15, Dec. 22 or Dec. 29, but the ask is related to the cost per sample.”
Pollock and Brummer expressed interest in entertaining that resolution. Handlen said some messaging will be released related to the environmental health impacts specifically to wells and septic systems.
“We want everyone to understand the importance of not utilizing their well water. If there’s any question of it being flooded or capacity issues, we are opening the lab up additional days starting next week,” Handlen said. “Our water lab will be open Dec. 15 through Dec. 16, Dec. 22 through Dec. 23, and Dec. 29 through Dec. 30 for regular samples, not just those impacted by the flood waters. But we do strongly encourage anyone in the impacted area to reach out to us if they have any questions about their well safety or if there was a septic issue, we would be happy to speak with them about that.”
The BOCC passed a resolution on Dec. 9 for a declaration of emergency due to conditions beginning the day prior. The Lewis County Solid Waste Utility and the Emergency Management departments have developed procedures by which affected citizens can obtain and redeem vouchers for free disposal of flood-damaged debris. In a resolution passed by the commissioners Thursday, free disposal of flood-damaged debris, only upon presentation of a voucher, is authorized at the designated temporary collection sites at the Central Transfer Station in Centralia and the East Lewis County Transfer Station in Morton effective Dec. 13 through 5 p.m., Feb. 27, 2026.
County Manager Ryan Barrett and Public Works Director Geoff Soderquist noted that they took a trip to the eastern section of the county Thursday. In their tour, Soderquist said the worst damage they saw was a 100-yard stretch of road that endured flooding on the shoulder, and minor damage to surfaces and shoulders were found in other areas. Some standing water remained in spots, Soderquist said.
Erika Katt, county emergency management deputy director, said residents can report damages to 360-740-2600. The county requests callers give their first and last name, physical residence and a good contact number.
Soderquist asked staff if RVs should be included in the disposal of garbage and hazardous materials. Barrett said they witnessed multiple damaged RVs during their tour.
“I think that we definitely could. My only stipulation is they will have to sit for some time to disassemble,” Rocky Lyon, solid waste manager, said. “I don’t think we’ll be able to do that while we’re trying our original cleanup efforts. We should entertain the idea of collecting as much information of specifics: if they’re a total loss, if there’s a small portion of loss, if they can be salvaged or not. Before accepting any, we should try to get a tally of that because it is going to take a very, very large effort.”
Barrett thanked first responders and emergency personnel during the difficult week of precipitation throughout Lewis County. He said the overall update is that things are “trending in the right direction,” although Katt added that a smaller atmospheric river is in the forecast for next week, but it shouldn’t be as impactful as this week’s weather, she said.
