Last May marked the 35th anniversary of the Mount St. Helens volcanic eruption—the deadliest such eruption ever in U.S. history—that killed 57 people and destroyed 250 homes, 47 bridges, 15 mi. of railways, and 185 mi. of highway. Still, some good has come out of it.
One trucking company is using the sand created by that catastrophic blast to help revitalize the Puget Sound region. Back in 2014, T.E. Walrath Trucking in Tacoma, WA, started using its Kenworth T800s to haul the Mount St. Helens sand to golf courses, parks, and playing fields across the area.
Walrath’s Greg Miller noted in a Seattle Times front-page story that some of that sand gets worked into the greens of manicured golf courses, while other loads are mixed with compost and spread on homeowner yards or are used to help grow the turf for playing fields, including those used by professional athletes in the area.
