CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION _________________
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A RESOLUTION related to the Duwamish Waterway Cleanup and the health of communities adjacent to the Lower Duwamish Waterway.
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WHEREAS, the Duwamish Waterway flows into Seattle's Elliott Bay, and from its source in the foothills of Mount Rainier, ends as a five-mile long "Superfund" Site - a designation reserved for the most hazardous waste sites in the nation; and
WHEREAS, local businesses and populations that include Tribal members, low-income, immigrant, and refugee families, live, work and fish along the Lower Duwamish Waterway (LDW); and
WHEREAS, for the past fourteen years the City of Seattle has been a primary participant in investigating contamination in the Duwamish and in developing approaches for cleanup of the Waterway; and
WHEREAS, Seattle Public Utilities has voluntarily conducted successful source control activities in the Duwamish drainage basin for over a decade; and
WHEREAS, the City has spent approximately $60 million on the those efforts plus the successful cleanup of two Early Action Areas, Slip 4 and Terminal 117; and
WHEREAS, the City has successfully cleaned up Slip 4 with a combination of dredging, capping, and enhanced natural recovery methods; and
WHEREAS, Seattle City Light is developing plans to create 4 acres of habitat along the Duwamish Waterway in the vicinity of the Hamm Creek area; and
WHEREAS, the City of Seattle and King County recently launched the Green/Duwamish Watershed Strategy, coordinating work by governments, nonprofits, and businesses across 500-square-miles of critical watershed; and
WHEREAS, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently published its final Record of Decision (ROD), with sediment cleanup goals designed to best protect human health; and
WHEREAS, the ROD identifies areas appropriate for different types of active cleanup, with Recovery Category assignments that inform the selection of dredging and c...
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