Duwamish River cleanup: City plan to support neighborhood involvement

(City-provided photo: From left, Macklemore, Jasmine Marwaha, CM Mike O’Brien, thank advocates Rein Attemann and James Rasmussen)
From Monday’s Seattle City Council meeting – a city boost for neighbors and groups affected by the ongoing Duwamish River cleanup. Here’s the announcement:

City Council unanimously approved a neighborhood-driven effort to enhance the community’s role in the Duwamish River cleanup process on Monday during a meeting of the Full Council. The adopted resolution creates an interdepartmental team (IDT) of City agencies to coordinate outreach efforts relating to the Duwamish cleanup, and identifies ongoing City projects that serve resident, tribal, and fishing communities in the Duwamish River Valley. The resolution also calls for engagement of communities of color, immigrants, refugees, limited-English proficiency communities, and people with low incomes in the design and implementation of the remaining cleanup.

In 2001, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency designated the Lower Duwamish Waterway as a “Superfund” site, a designation reserved for the most hazardous waste sites in the nation. The historical release of pollutants have harmed the ecology and created serious health risks to residents of South Park and Georgetown, from contaminated sediments, fish, and shellfish in the Duwamish River Valley. In the time since the Duwamish has been designated as a Superfund site, half of the contamination has been cleaned.

“This resolution comes in response to community concerns that their voice be represented in the cleanup process going forward,” said Councilmember Mike O’Brien, the legislation’s sponsor. “The City of Seattle isn’t only a responsible party to the cleanup; we’re also the government representative of the community. I intend for the community’s voice to be heard. Transparency and racial and social equity throughout the entire cleanup process is paramount.”

The Interdepartmental Team will consider programs relating to assistance in housing preservation and energy efficiency, environmental health, environmental justice, transit access, providing access to healthy food, and working to ensure Women- and Minority-Owned Businesses (WMBE) inclusion and local hire for cleanup work. The group will also explore the feasibility of creating an inter-agency fund to improve overall community health in the Duwamish River Valley, as a possible extension of the Duwamish River Opportunity Fund.

“Over the course of the cleanup effort to date, it has become clear that there are substantial social and economic needs in these communities along the river,” added Councilmember O’Brien. “Many of these needs cannot be addressed through the federal Superfund regulatory process, but can be addressed by the City through our current programs of work.”

11 Replies to "Duwamish River cleanup: City plan to support neighborhood involvement"

  • Silly Goose February 10, 2015 (1:47 pm)

    Love that Macklemore is there shows how much he really cares about this city!! I am curious to now see if the city council meeting attendence will increase!!

  • hannah February 10, 2015 (3:56 pm)

    actually I think when celebraties do this it is more about them then the community,,,he doesn’t know any more and perhaps a bit less than most around government and public policy

  • G February 10, 2015 (5:07 pm)

    Can’t argue with cleaning up the river, but is this cleaning up the river, or a costly “make-work” project with everyone trying to get a piece of the action? Reminds me of the legislative process and the pork add-ons.

  • wetone February 10, 2015 (5:59 pm)

    I keep hearing the buzz words “cleaning up the Dirty Dooo” often and think that’s great. How about starting with cleaning areas around water ways first ? The east side of the east water way across from Harbor Island, south side of new bypass ramp recently built. It’s a nasty mess, littered with garbage and plastic bags (piles)from the encampments (not the motorhome group so much but other side of water way) Start there before it ends up in river.

  • captainDave February 10, 2015 (7:10 pm)

    I wonder what kind of outreach expenditures are planned?

    I think the best ways to get community engagement is to provide more recreational access to the Duwamish River. Salmon fishing, kayaking and paddle boarding are great activities that get people to appreciate the environment no mater what color they are. Positively motivated citizens are much better stewards than government.

    We tried to get the City interested in allowing us to run a floating farmers market at South Park to help pay for a public access dock on the river (SouthParkRiverWalk.com).

    I discovered that the City and County had a lot more interest in creating administrative exercises than actually doing something productive.

  • Mike February 10, 2015 (8:47 pm)

    Good to see some action for cleanup. Regarding hannah’s comment, I’d bet Macklemore is putting his money where his mouth is on this, considering his presence brings a MUCH wider audience to be aware of the issue and thus, financial support follows in the millions. James Rasmussen whole heatedly wants to make sure the Duwamish gets cleaned up, he has pride in living here, deep ties to its history and has done a ton in the past to get that area recognized as a legitimate issue in the first place. I remember buying a Jazz CD from him at Bud’s Jazz Records, nice dude. I actually wonder if Macklemore knows about James’ musical efforts with school aged kids, maybe James is Macklemore’s influence to get into music, I dunno.

  • Alki Girl February 10, 2015 (8:56 pm)

    Believe it or not, when celebrities get involved it brings more attention to any situation.

  • James February 10, 2015 (10:22 pm)

    International pop star from our neighborhood decides to champion local causes. Commentator Hannah complains for a hobby and introduces cynicism into what should be a small celebration about heading in the right track for our future.

    • WSB February 10, 2015 (10:54 pm)

      Hannah perhaps doesn’t have the context, and I’m sorry I didn’t have the opportunity to add it as a footnote to this news release – Macklemore has been working with the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition on its River For All campaign for a while. First explanation on his own website: http://macklemore.com/post/90368818687/a-river-for-all

  • I. Ponder February 10, 2015 (10:32 pm)

    Macklemore seems to be a bonafide righteous guy and I’m generally a cynical person.

  • Paulina Lopez February 10, 2015 (11:30 pm)

    Great to see this happening and very grateful for council member O’Brien for his leadership on this.
    The River is the only River we have, why should we the people of Seattle not care for it?

    As a South Park resident it is important to me to live and work in a healthy and safe place that my family can fully enjoy. I want to feel proud of my city, knowing that we care for the people, the environment, and the diverse wildlife that makes the Duwamish community special. My dream is to leave my children a beautiful, clean river where it is safe for everyone to swim, to fish, to work, and to play.

    As for Macklemore, he is more than a cool guy! He has been supporting this effort because he believes in it! Please read more:
    http://macklemore.com/post/90368818687/a-river-for-all

    In case you can’t open the link, here some of his own words:
    “We share a collective responsibility to protect this land and to honor the people who first lived here. For the Duwamish and many other tribes, this is where they fish and the food that they eat. Fishing on this river is part of who they are and their community’s lineage.

    I believe that it is our responsibility as members of Seattle to clean and restore this river back to health, and to make sure that ALL children can grow up and have access to a clean and safe environment. To ensure that the salmon they eat will act as nourishment and not lead to disease
    We are Seattle. No bridge, boundaries or invisible man-made lines divide us. This is our home, our people and our community. This is our city’s only river, and I want to do my part to make sure that it’s safe for all that reside here. I stand in solidarity with community leaders ” Macklemore

    Thank you all ! FOR A RIVER FOR ALL!

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