Monday, June 30, 2014

No. 286 Edgewater Beach Park, Mukilteo

Edgewater Beach Park
920 1st St
Mukilteo, WA
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Last week the city of Mukilteo, Washington State Ferries and City of Everett opened up a temporary pedestrian path to access Edgewater Beach Park. The 22 acres of shoreline north of Mukilteo Ferry Terminal have been closed to the public for over 40 years. A temporary path is located at the north end of the parking lot for the Mukilteo Train Station. It is about a 1/3 mile walk to the beach area. 

There is a small beach area behind the Silver Cloud Inn that is accessible on the north side of building depending on the tide level. 
Next to the Silver Cloud Inn is the 2 story NOAA Mukilteo Research Lab. For 40 years NOAA scientist have been looking into why certain areas of the ocean are more acidic than others and how fish are affected by water pollution. The waters around Point Elliott / Mukilteo are some of the cleanest waters and being so close to shore makes it an ideal location for a research. The sea floor of Possession Sound drops quickly to 600 feet keeping the waters clean, a constant temperature and average salt content. That makes Point Elliott a good sampling area for collecting uncontaminated samples of marine life for study. Future plans may include expanding the NOAA Lab to be more accommodating to the public by including educational exhibits. 
The land on which the NOAA Lab is located on was owned by the United States Air Force from 1951 to 2013. 
From 1951 to the mid 1980s the U.S. Air Force maintained the Mukilteo Fuel Farm as part of a network of Puget Sound area bulk fuel farms. The fuel farm supplied aviation fuel, crude and lubricants to the aircraft stationed at Paine Air Force Base. Additionally there are 38 storage tanks holding up to 60 million gallon of fuel and 11 miles of pipeline under the Puget Sound to that now supply fuel to area military branches such as the submarine base, Army bases, Naval Air Stations and US. Coast Guard Stations. 
In 2013 the United States Air Force turned over the decommissioned fuel farm and property to the City of Everett. Future plans include upgrading the train station, reposition the Washington State Ferry Terminal to the former fuel dock and turning the waterfront into a multi-use business and recreation destination over the next 15 years. 

Mukilteo Tank Farm
Over grown train tracks leading up to the decommissioned Air Force Fuel Dock
Edgewater Beach Park Mukilteo
The former fuel dock stretches 800 feet into Point Elliott where Tanker Ships delivered aviation fuel for the Air Force
Edgewater Beach Park Mukilteo
Low Tide at Edgewater Beach 
Edgewater Beach Park Mukilteo
Driftwood piles up at the tidal plane at Edgewater Beach 
Port of Everett / Boeing Assembly
at the north end of Edgewater Beach is Port of Everett's Mount Baker Terminal
Port of Everett / Boeing Assembly
Port of Everett Mount Baker Terminal receives barges filled with Boeing fuselage part from over 40 international suppliers including China, Japan. Cargo containers are placed on train cars and then taking up to the Boeing Everett Plant along one the steepest track grades in the US. 


Mukilteo fuel farm, exploring mukilteo history, the air force in mukilteo, paine field air force base, planes, snohomish county tourism, port of everett, city of mukilteo, puget sound waterfront

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