Kelly Singleterry
CEP 302: Environmental Response
Winter/2015
Post Mortem Presentation Prompt
Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site (ROD)
*Good day everyone!
Kelly Singleterry here.
For my Post Mortem Policy Presentation, I wanted to take a look into Lower Duwamish
Waterway Superfund Site.
Specifically, as of December 2014 the EPA released a Final Cleanup Plan for the Waterway, known as the Record of Decision (ROD). I will be going over the key aspects of the ROD, along with the history of the river, the current state of the Superfund Site, and its effects on the natural and human environments, as well as the public involvement pertaining to the issue. (Slide #1---
32 seconds)
To start off this presentation, I first would like to share a video that gives a small insight into the current state of Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site. This video is titled, “Metropolis” and it was created in 2012, by a radical film group from Seattle known as the “Tides of Flame”.
*Start Video* PLAY UNTIL MIN. 3:45 *Stop Video*
(Slide #2--- 4 minutes 3 seconds)
To follow up with the video, I’d like to present a brief history of the Duwamish River, and how it has proved to be the life-line that has fueled the industrialization of our thriving city of Seattle.
European settlers first arrived in the Seattle area in the late 1700’s. The Duwamish people, or
“The People of the Inside” lived in the area for over 10,000 years. It is estimated that around the
1850’s white settlers such as Arthur Denny and Henry Yesler took claim of what we now know as the downtown limits of present day Seattle.
Before the industrialization of Seattle, Elliott Bay and the mouth of the Duwamish river were a vast expanse of tidal mudflats, and swamps. A marine estuary that sustained, in addition to humans, the life of many native fish and wildlife that we still see in the area to this day.
Specifically, some of the crown jewels of the Pacific Northwest, known as Chum, Coho,
Chinook, and Pink Salmon. Species that hatch upstream of freshwater rivers, and spend their entire adult life in salt water habitats before returning to their original freshwater ecosystems to mate.
It wasn’t until the early 19 hundreds that the industrial revolution took hold on the area, and created a framework for Seattle to be one of the worlds most economically viable ports in history. In 1905, several engineering projects went underway to create a ship canal between Lake
Washington and Elliott Bay, as well as a huge dredging effort to redirect the route of four rivers that emptied into the Duwamish. Subsequently, the sediment from dredging created the manmade Harbor Island that supports much of Seattle’s current Industrial area.

Since then, the thriving metropolis that we now know as the Emerald City, is still teeming with economically booming industry. Unfortunately, as of today, the once blooming estuary of the
Lower Duwamish river is now a poor excuse for a freshwater/saltwater ecosystem. Less than 3% of the natural habitat remains, and over 100 years of contamination, and pollution have left the river in a dismal state. (Slide #3---2:15 seconds)
In 2001 The United States Environmental Protection Agency declared the Lower Duwamish
Waterway a designated Superfund site. Placing it on the EPA’s National Priority List, defining the river as one the most contaminated toxic waste sites in the entire country.
Due to over 100 years of pollution related to industrial and commercial operations such as boat manufacturing, paper and metals fabrication, shipping port utilities, airplane manufacturing, cargo storage, sewage overflow operations, storm water drainage facilities, food processing plants, naval shipyards, river dredging, industry import and export, the list goes on and on,… the river sediment and shoreline are caked with toxic chemicals that effect the entire estuarial ecosystem.
Some of the Potentially Responsible Parties include, The Boeing Company, King County, The
City of Seattle, and Norfolk CSO. Just to name a few.
The contamination is such a hazard , that communities residing in the area are highly discouraged from eating resident fish and shellfish species.
The biggest chemical concern within the river would be the high levels of Polychlorinated biphenyls that coat the sediment and resident marine life within the waterway.
Also known as PCB’s, the health effects that have been associated, include neurobehavioral changes in children, immuno-deficiencies, and cancer causing agents through exposure.
This kind of long-standing, historical pollution crosses multiple planes in terms of consequence.
The shoreline and vegetative plant life is unhealthily sustained, the resident bottom feeders of the river suffer genetic abnormalities and low quality of life, and the people living in the Lower
Duwamish River Valley, specifically the South Park and Georgetown communities, risk contamination through consumption of fish, as well as heightened environmental health risks due to their proximity to industrial Seattle, i.e. air quality, and lack of services.
(Slide #4---2:09 seconds)
In December of 2014 the EPA released its Final Cleanup Plan, known as the Record of Decision
(ROD).
The ROD is a document that is produced after long, and careful analysis of an effected environment. The ROD determines the timeline in which a plan or policy is put into action, as well as a detailed examination of a chosen action alternative that is set in place to assist the negatively impacted area of interest. All in an effort to reduce the area’s impacts on the health of the natural and human environments
The ROD for the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund Site states that the next steps in remediation of the river consists of 105 acres of river dredging to permanently remove the highest levels of contaminated river mud. 24 acres of engineered sediment cap to trap toxic mud.
48 acres of enhanced natural recovery meaning sand layering; and 235 acres of monitored natural recovery where no treatment will be implemented, but natural processes will be examined. I.e. sedimentation.

For this specific area of interest, early action sites were put in place to act upon the most contaminated areas of the waterway. By the end of 2015, the early action sites will be cleaned up of notable traces of PCB’s, leaving just over half of the cleanup work to be done.
The plan is estimated to cost around $342 million dollars that will be paid for by potentially responsible parties, and is scheduled to take 7 years of active cleanup, such as dredging and sediment cap, and 10 more years of monitored natural recovery.
If you unfamiliar, dredging is essentially the physical act of scraping to remove toxic sediment from the river bottom using mechanical equipment. Sediment cap, is a the act of containing toxic sediment under layers of other designed sediment to trap contaminants.
The ROD is the first step in putting a plan like this into action. Continued support, and outcry from affected communities will further expand the issues surrounding the initial pollution, and implemented cleanup of the Duwamish River.
(Slide #5---2:18 seconds)
The community involvement and public concern for this issue were integral to the shaping process of the Proposed Plan by the EPA in 2013. A plan that generated over 2,000 public comments of concern, which in turn, helped facilitate the all-encompassing Record of Decision for a proposed action plan at the Superfund site.
Just after the designation of the Lower Duwamish Waterway as a Superfund site, the EPA developed a community involvement plan to promote meaningful public interest toward the issue. The plan was produced, and based upon regularly held public meetings and advisory groups; along with stakeholder meetings to update on source control activities, neighborhood meetings in Georgetown and South Park, fact sheets informing about site progress, as well as continual opportunities for public comment and concern.
The issues of concern branch far and wide, but ultimately reflect the human environment, and the impacts of a poisoned river on an already underserved and underrepresented area of Seattle.
Statistics show that the larger majority of the South Park and Georgetown community residents are from low-income, minority, tribal, or immigrant social groups.
Thus, weighing in on the fact that the area is an environmental justice community, and for the first time ever, the EPA has addressed Environmental Justice within their ROD. Meaning, in broad terms, that the people living in these areas face higher levels of environmental hazards, and impacts to their health than other communities in the urban Seattle area. All due to the continuous industrial impact of a large city port such as Seattle.
Public warnings from the Department of Health such as this sign, which state, “DO NOT EAT crab, shellfish, or bottom-feeding fish due to pollution.” and offers the same sentiments not only in English, but seven other subsequent languages. Showing that the need for an understanding and knowledge of the issue are integral to addressing the larger issues at hand.
The Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition is a community advisory group to the EPA. An alliance that has put the people residing in the affected communities adjacent to the river first, and allowed for involvement that has spanned across multiple sectors. Even big names like
Macklemore have teamed with the coalition to promote awareness to the greater Seattle area, and the world, about the cleanup of the river. Local Restoration efforts fostered from said awareness, have proven to create positive impacts on the communities of South Seattle.
(Slide #6---2:42 seconds)
So, where are we now?

Like I stated previously, the latest news in terms of cleanup of the river, would be the completion of cleanup areas in Early Action sites along the waterway by the end of 2015. Sites known as
Boeing Plant 2, Norfolk Combined Sewage Overflow, Terminal 117, and Slip 4, that contained some of the highest amounts of PCB’s and various other chemical waste.
Cleanup for the second half of the river has already been put into action.
Negotiations between the EPA and Potentially Responsible Parties are also underway to figure out who owes what.
Even more recently as of February 9 th
2015, Seattle City Council made a unanimous decision to pass a resolution that emphasizes the importance of social justice and diversity among communities of the Lower Duwamish River Valley and the role they play in the cleanup of the river. This resolution also creates an Interdepartmental Team to coordinate community action for enhanced environmental health and sustainability within the South Park and Georgetown communities. Another step in the cleanup process that finally addresses overarching issues of equal importance to the whole of Seattle.
Thank you for your time.
(Slide #7---1:15 seconds)