Oso gets $7.6 million of federal funds for mudslide recovery

EVERETT, Wash. (AP) — The federal government has agreed to pay Snohomish County $7.6 million for mudslide recovery expenses.

The Daily Herald of Everett reports that a new Federal Emergency Management Agency grant for nearly $4.2 million covers part of what the county spent last summer to remove 200,000 cubic yards of dirt and trees from the disaster zone. FEMA also awarded nearly $3.5 million for the state of Washington's debris-removal costs.

After two to three years, the county expects to be left with $2 million to $3 million of the roughly $30 million it cost to respond. That doesn't count what the state Department of Transportation spent to repair Highway 530.

The March 22, 2014 slide covered a mile-square area in debris and killed 43 people.