Bringing the Duwamish River ‘back to life’: Milestone in long-running cleanup


(King County photos)

By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor

You’ve probably heard many times that the Duwamish River – running along much of West Seattle’s eastern boundary – is a “Superfund site,” referring to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency program, and that a multi-billion-dollar cleanup has long been under way.

Tuesday, we got a rare chance to hear specifics, as the cleanup of decades-old industrial pollution – really, more than one cleanup – marked a milestone.

A media briefing was held on the river’s shore at Duwamish River People’s Park (itself a cleaned-up site), days after work began.

The last speaker, Duwamish River Community Coalition director Paulina López, offered the most relatable context, reminding those gathered that the cleanup was about bringing the river “back to life”:

(WSB videos)
López followed representatives of government agencies and Boeing, all talking briefly about what role their agencies play. The cleanup section where polluted sediment is being scooped out right now – much of it contaminated by PCBs – is managed by King County, said Jim Bolger, whose brief words of introduction were followed in this clip by Elly Hale, (updated) one of the EPA’s project managers along with Nasrin Erdelyi:

We talked with Hale after the briefing to get details on exactly what’s happening right now. Contaminated sediment is being scooped up, placed on a barge, towed to shore, transferred to land, then loaded onto trains bound for the Columbia Ridge Landfill in Oregon.

How deep the scooping goes depends on how deep the pollution goes – the goal is to get to clean sediment, Hale said, which could be anywhere from one to six feet down. An important point she had mentioned at the microphone was that people are still advised not to eat any fish from the Duwamish River but salmon. Wondering why that’s OK but others aren’t? It’s because the others are residents, living out their lives in the polluted river, while salmon spend most of their lives out in cleaner sea water before showing up here.

Another key point of the work that’s under way is “source control” – keeping new pollution out of the river. The lead agency in that work is the state Department of Ecology, whose representative Dr. Kim Wooten spoke briefly too, along with Boeing‘s Katie Moxley and the City of Seattle’s David Schuchardt:

The in-water work that’s under way now can only last through February before taking a break until October, to protect fish. Because of that short work window, it’ll take 10 years for the operation to get to the south end of Harbor Island.

The cleanup work – planning, design, and execution – has been a quarter-century in the making. This is, to be technical, the Upper Reach of the Lower Duwamish Waterway. This page has more detail on exactly what’s happening now; Pacific Pile & Marine is the lead contractor.

13 Replies to "Bringing the Duwamish River 'back to life': Milestone in long-running cleanup"

  • KT December 11, 2024 (7:16 am)

    Thanks for the detailed coverage of this…10 years in coming but nice to see.

  • Daniel December 11, 2024 (7:27 am)

    I always wonder, is there long term maintenance done to maintain the artificially-created straight line path of the Duwamish (since it used to be super curvy)?  Or was that a -and-done project?

    • Nasrin December 12, 2024 (4:25 pm)

      Yes – the Lower Duwamish Waterway is federal navigable channel and it is maintained by the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers through maintenance dredging.

  • Christopher B. December 11, 2024 (8:41 am)

    Great report. Lucky that the weather and light were good for reporting it. I’m delighted to see progress continuing down there.

  • Jay December 11, 2024 (9:00 am)

    I wonder if this project can survive the upcoming budget and staff cuts and dismantling of EPA beaurocracy. I’m not optimistic.

    • AJ December 11, 2024 (11:01 am)

      That was my first thought.  I believe this will be considered frivolous spending and the new administration will stop funding.

  • Westsidegirl December 11, 2024 (9:24 am)

    Yes, it is very disturbing the profound pollution that has taken place with the beautiful Duwamish river. The backstory actually involves massive efforts by the Department of Ecology and the EPA..  These intelligent snd dedicated people are true HEROS  who have worked for years and years and years, pushing legally against Industries (and even the city of Seattle itself)  THANK YOU EPA and ECY and the Duwamish  tribe and all the others who have withstood unspeakable obstacles! They have fought hard and long ! You are a true heroes! Thank you….thank you ….thank you. The world is a better place because of you.: and that is a life well lived. ❤️‼️

  • Amy Thomson December 11, 2024 (9:34 am)

    One hopes that the clean up crew is using the kind of dredge that won’t spread the pollution far and wide, as happened a decade or so ago.

    • John December 11, 2024 (11:03 am)

      Exactly!   The photos show a clam bucket being used.  That greatly disturbs the river bottom and sends the pollutants further down river or into the bay. 

      • Former Mole December 11, 2024 (4:35 pm)

        There are environmental cleanup clamshell buckets. They take a square cut of material and don’t leave Pac-Man style chomps in the river bottom. They are designed to minimize the suspended sediment and completely remove all contaminated material.  They are for this exact application. 

        • 22blades December 11, 2024 (6:42 pm)

          That’s a great explanation of the available technology. Thank you.

    • 22blades December 11, 2024 (11:43 am)

      I agree about questioning the method of removal & mitigating the sediment stirred up with the in & outgoing tides. I would have thought the process would be a bit more contained.

  • sna December 11, 2024 (11:59 am)

    “Source control” of new pollutants is still a big problem. There are several places where polluted  runoff drainage from industrial areas exit into the river.

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