Timber company faces litigation for Oso mudslide

EVERETT, Wash. – A King County judge has ruled that a timber company that says its logging had nothing to do with the deadly landslide in Oso in 2014 will have to convince a jury.

The Daily Herald reports that Grandy Lake Forest Associates failed to convince a judge that a trial is unnecessary to see if the company bears any responsibility for the March 22, 2014 slide.

The company argues that timber operations near the slide were not a cause of the slide, and that it was instead media attention that made Grandy Lake a target for litigation.

Lawyers for those suing the company say clear-cutting in 2004 allowed more rain to percolate into a hill that already had a history of slides, contributing to the disaster that killed 43 people and destroyed dozens of homes.