Weigh in on EPA's Duwamish River cleanup plan by Aug. 11

Tuesday was supposed to be the deadline for people to share input on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s proposed cleanup plan for the heavily polluted Duwamish River entrance. But that deadline has been pushed back to Aug. 11, allowing time for a community festival to educate residents and take public comment on the proposal.

Large portions of the Duwamish River, like where it meets the Puget Sound, are so toxic that the Environmental Protection Agency has had to step in to rehabilitate the river, designating it a Superfund site for a long-term cleanup response.

Over the past 100 years, industrial discharges, storm drains, and combined sewer overflows have polluted the surface and bottom of the river.

The EPA has worked in recent years to clean up portions of the river, one of the most recent efforts being the East Waterway Cleaning Project to clean the section of the river on the East of the man-made Harbor Island.

Surrounding it are industrial and shipping projects. Further down the river, in the South Park neighborhood — which is in another Superfund site — is the office of Jamie Hearn, who helps with cleaning engagement and advocacy for the Duwamish River Community Coalition.

“Sediment flows between each site, the water moves between each site, fish travel up and down the rivers. Even if we split them into two Superfund sites, we know that that's not how river ecosystems work,” she said.

The impact on the ecosystem and the neighborhoods surrounding the river system isn't good. It’s why public comment is important on cleanup programs like this.

Monday was supposed to be the deadline for people to share input on the EPA’s proposed cleanup plan for the heavily polluted entrance to the Duwamish river.

But contributing such input often involves a lot of technical reading, which advocates say can be inaccessible for people living in working class communities; they might not have the time to read through technical EPA documents or may not be native English speakers. Regardless, they should have a voice in the cleanup process, Hearn said.

“These folks have a really strong understanding of what some of the issues are when there is river cleanup. They are going to be the ones that are the most impacted by this cleanup, it's really important that we center their experiences and their thoughts.”

Hearn added that the new, Aug. 11 deadline gives their group time to reach out to people in a culturally relevant way during the Duwamish River Festival, where they'll be able to present the cleanup projects to the public in a more accessible way while also collecting input.

The festival, which will also provide music and food, is August 5.

Correction notice, Monday, 6/26/2023: A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that the previous Duwamish River cleanup input deadline was on Monday.