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SEATTLE - Representatives from an innovative public-private partnership announced today their readiness to work in a proactive manner with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the state Department of Ecology (Ecology) to begin “early action” cleanup at up to four sites along Seattle’s Lower Duwamish Waterway.
The partners (City of Seattle, King County, Port of Seattle, and The Boeing Company), known as the “Lower Duwamish Waterway Group,” volunteered to begin the cleanup through an agreement with EPA and Ecology. The agreement reached by the four parties is part of a Superfund cleanup effort launched in September 2001.
This information, along with a more detailed technical assessment of the waterway, will be the subject of a public meeting tomorrow, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m. at the South Park Community Center, 8319 8th Avenue South. EPA and Ecology will not approve any cleanups until the technical information is reviewed, and public comment is taken into account. Approval from the regulating agencies is needed before any cleanup actions begin.
The partners are volunteering to take the lead in the cleanup on four potential early action sites identified as part of the initial investigation of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Sediment Superfund Site. The four proposed sites are:
- Site 1 -- Area near Diagonal/Duwamish combined sewer overflow and storm drain
- Site 4 -- Slip 4
- Site 5 -- Located south of Slip 4, on the east side of the river, just offshore of Boeing Plant 2
- Site 6 -- Located at the end of Cloverdale Street, on the west side of the river
The sites include those where it is known that one or more of the partners is willing to move the early cleanup forward even though they may not be the only responsible parties.
“We already know a lot about Duwamish contamination. This early-action plan is the best next step for the Duwamish,” said King County Executive Ron Sims. “We recognize that more study will be needed, but the way to improve the river and clean up contaminated sites is to get to work cleaning them up now. We will need assistance from the EPA and Ecology for these and other contaminated sites, and to also bring the other parties responsible for this pollution to the table.”
The river was designated as a Superfund site only 11 months ago. It is a major step forward to propose clean up activities so quickly after designation.
“We are committed to working with the EPA, Ecology, and community and stakeholder groups to improve the health of the Duwamish as soon as possible,” said Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels. “We can achieve real environmental and public health improvements now while supporting the basic requirements and intent of Superfund.”
A six-mile stretch of the Lower Duwamish Waterway was listed as a federal Superfund site last fall. The Duwamish flows northwest from Tukwila, splitting around Harbor Island and emptying into Elliott Bay, to the south of the Seattle waterfront. The lower waterway has been heavily industrialized for more than eighty years, and receives discharges from a large industrial and urban area.
Boeing has conducted studies at Plant 2 and is ready to move into the clean up phase there. King County is in the process of starting a cleanup of approximately seven acres of contaminated sediments in front of the Duwamish/Diagonal Combined Sewer Overflow and Storm Drain. Clean up will be under way by fall of next year.
The partners have already restored a number of sites along the waterway, providing important habitat for the species that live in or depend on the river.
Learn more about Duwamish cleanup efforts by visiting the group’s Web site at:
www.ldwg.org.
Updated: Aug. 6, 2002
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