Contact:

Matt Phelps                                                       Fay Lim

Communications Specialist II                           Communications Supervisor

matt.phelps@snoco.org                                    Fay.Lim@snoco.org

425-388-3126                                                    425-388-6413

Snohomish County’s Litter Wranglers Clean Approximately 800 Road Miles,

Surpass 6,000 Bags of Litter Collected during 2019 Season

Litter Wranglers will return in March for the 2020 season

EVERETT, Wash., Nov. 7, 2019 – Initially the Snohomish County Public Works Litter Wranglers program was expected to only clean about 300 road miles in 2017. Two years later, through responding to resident calls and the grouping of litter sites geographically to streamline the process, the Litter Wranglers cleaned approximately 800 road miles during this year alone, as the 2019 season comes to a close at the end of the month.

“The Litter Wranglers program is an example of how we innovate, solve problems, and continuously improve our service to the public,” Snohomish County Executive Dave Somers said. “We are proud of the crew and the extraordinary work they do on behalf of our residents. Thank you to all that have helped us maintain the county’s natural beauty.”

The county maintains approximately 1,650 road miles throughout the unincorporated area. The Litter Wranglers have been picking up roadside litter which has enabled road maintenance crews to stay focused on maintaining and repairing the vital infrastructure by arriving at clean work sites. This saves time and money.

“The fact that 800 road miles were cleaned, equal to about half the total road miles we maintain, is astounding,” Snohomish County Public Works Director Steve Thomsen said. “This is the same number of crew members and time out in the field as the previous two years. They have just found ways to be more efficient and have a greater impact.”

The Litter Wranglers broke last year’s bags collected record with a month left in the season and will finish, for the first time, with more than 6,000 bags of litter collected. Overall, the program has collected more than 17,000 bags of litter from county roadways during three years.

The six-person crew of seasonal county employees have been aided by Snohomish County residents calling and emailing about locations with excessive litter. The Litter Wranglers have been able to respond within less than a week to reported locations. The program is scheduled to return in April 2020.

For more information about the Litter Wranglers, visit www.snohomishcountywa.gov/litter.

About Snohomish County Public Works

The Snohomish County Public Works Department constructs and maintains county roads; controls and manages surface water quantity, quality, and fish habitats; and oversees the recycling and disposal of solid waste. The department’s main office is located at 3000 Rockefeller Ave., Everett, WA 98201. For more information about Snohomish County Public Works, visit www.snohomishcountywa.gov/PublicWorks.