September 29, 2003

Council Calls for Action to Protect Duwamish

The Metropolitan King County Council today joined the growing number of community groups, environmental organizations, and local governments in calling for action to save the Duwamish River.

“This is a crisis that extends beyond borders and affiliations,” said Councilmember Larry Phillips, sponsor of the motion that calls for the clean-up of toxic waste in the Duwamish River and prevention of future recontamination. “People live, work and play all along the Duwamish. They should be able to use and enjoy the river knowing it embodies a healthy ecosystem, not a slow-moving toxic cocktail.”

The Duwamish continues to be a vital regional waterway for both business and recreation, but the once-thriving ecosystem along the river has been severely damaged by pollution. The Environmental Protection Agency placed the Duwamish on its Superfund list in 2001. Calling the river one of America’s most toxic sites, the EPA identified 36 chemicals exceeding clean-up screening levels, including lead, mercury, PCB’s and zinc.

“The health of the Duwamish is important to those who live on the river, as well as to our efforts to restore salmon runs,” said Councilmember Dow Constantine, Co-Chair of the Steering Committee for Watershed Resource Inventory Area (WRIA) 9. “The Council’s decision to formally support efforts to save the Duwamish is a step forward in ensuring that extinction is not an option and that we recognize the health of our ecosystems affects the health of our citizens.”

The Council’s motion calls for swift action in cleaning up existing toxic waste to protect the health of both the human and animal populations along the Duwamish. The motion also calls for the use of new technology to help ensure that once the river is clean, it will not be recontaminated. The Council joins a coalition that includes the Duwamish Tribe, the city of Seattle, Boeing, the Georgetown Community Council and the Washington Toxics Coalition in demanding that the Duwamish be cleaned up.

“Private business, local government, neighborhood and community groups are all coming together with one goal: making sure that a major Puget Sound waterway is safe for our children and grandchildren, and healthy for spawning salmon for generations yet to come,” said Phillips. “The only way we can ensure that happens is to act now. We can’t keep adding new pollution to the mix.”

Read more about this legislation on the King County Council’s LEGISEARCH system at http://mkcclegisearch.metrokc.gov and type in “2003-0432”