BACKSTORY
On March 22, 2014, a major mudslide killed 43 people in Oso, Washington. Clear-cut logging above the slide exacerbated it; the hill — which is in one of the state’s most active slide zones — had slumped in 1995 and 2006. Many of the West’s riskiest locations are also its most desirable, encouraging would-be residents to gamble with geology (“Why we risk life and property,” HCN, 4/28/14).
FOLLOWUP
On Oct. 10, the day before a months-long trial was to begin, Washington state and a local timber company settled with survivors and victims’ families. Grandy Lake Forest Associates LLC agreed to pay $10 million, and the state —which plaintiffs accused of building a wall that made the slide worse — will pay $50 million. Last year, a University of Washington study showed that slopes in the Oso area collapse every 140 to 500 years, revealing that one of the deadliest slides in history was no anomaly.
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Latest: Oso lawsuit reaches $60 million settlement.
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