Duwamish Alive!

Save the Date! Earth Day - Duwamish Alive! April 17, 2009, 10am-2pm at multiple sites in the Duwamish River watershed. Celebrate the restoration of Seattle's Duwamish River, and the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day by volunteering at one of 12 restoration sites. Work sites include a river cleanup by kayak and canoe, shoreline salmon restoration, and forest tree planting, and no experience is necessary! The Duwamish River trash cleanup is sponsored by Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Argosy Cruises, Alki Kayak Tours, and Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. 

You may also attend the FREE Earth Day Festival from 2-4pm at Pathfinder School in the Delridge neighborhood. The Festival will provide food, kids' activities, tables of information, music, and special Earth Day surprises!

The restoration of the Duwamish depends on community, non-profit, government and corporate partners working together to restore the urbanized environment. Our goal is to help bring back at least 30% of the river shoreline for wildlife habitat. So far we have acheived less than 5%, so we need YOU to join us too. We are looking for school, work, or groups to volunteer with Duwamish Alive, so please contact Duwamish Alive, or call 206-382-7007 to sign up today! 

Thanks to all our volunteers, the October 17th Fall Planting event was a complete success, despite (or because of?) the fierce storm that covered Western Washington in nearly 1.5" of rain! Over 500 volunteers worked at 9 sites, removing invasive weeds, trash, and planting native species. Work included a kayak cleanup sponsored by DRCC, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Alki Kayak Tours, and ECOSS, which removed over 250 pounds of trash from the river. The Georgetown Community Council, DRCC, and CleanScapes also organized a work party along 8th Avenue South in Georgetown to beautify the street and keep Gateway Park free of weeds and debris.

Click here to listen to Green Acre R.A.D.I.O on KBCS, for a "live" report on the October 17th Duwamish Alive! (10/20/09 show)

Earth Day 2009 - Duwamish Alive!! Successful river trash cleanup by kayak, motor boat and canoe! Over 1000 volunteers worked at 12 sites within the watershed. Volunteers joined together for the great weather, and accomplished many important tasks.

DRCC is a founding member of the Duwamish Alive! Coalition, which coordinates twice-yearly multi-site habitat restoration work parties within the Duwamish watershed.

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Duwamish River Festival

Thank you to everyone who attended the Duwamish River Festival on Saturday, August 8!

Hundreds of people, young and old, came out to celebrate the cleanup and restoration of the Duwamish River. Click here to view photos.

Click here to view a short King County-produced video about the 2009 River Festival and Feasibility Study.

The annual free family-friendly environmental festival provides updates on the Duwamish River Superfund cleanup, kayak tours on the river, live entertainment, water taxi rides, food, children’s activities, health information, natural yard care tips, give-aways and more.

This year's festival included a welcome from the Duwamish Tribe's "Singing Feet" youth cultural dance group and Cecile Hanson, the Duwamish Tribe's chairwoman, followed by Joyas Mestizas - Mexican folkloric dance group, Amateur Radio Operator, and the Seattle Fandango Project (photo below), who also led the Children's Recycled Art Parade.

Thank you to our 2009 Program sponsors: the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; the Washington State Department of Ecology; the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition; Envioronmental Coalition of South Seattle; King County; Port of Seattle; The Boeing Company; Seattle Public Utilities; Public Health - Seattle and King County; Puget Sound Clean Air Agency; Field Roast Grain Meat Co.; Alki Kayak Tours; Bluefield Holdings, Inc.; Cascade Land Conservancy; Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program; Windward Environmental; City of Tukwila; CleanScapes; Homestead Community Land Trust, King County Hazardous Waste; SeaMar Community Health Center; and Global Diving and Salvage, Inc.

Click here for additional information about the Duwamish River Festival event. If you would like information about the 2010 Duwamish River Festival, please send us an email or call: 206-954-0218.

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The 'Duwamish Vision'

On October 23, 2009, DRCC received a Clearwater Award during the Waterfront Center's annual international conference on waterfront planning, development, and culture. The non profit Waterfront Center hosts the annual "Excellence on the Waterfront" awards. The Clearwater Award is named for the citizen's group working to clean up the Hudson River in New York State, spearheaded by songwriter Pete Seeger. Cari Simson, Program Manager for DRCC, accepted the award on behalf of the hundreds of citizens who worked on the project. Read the full press release here.

A vision without a plan is just a dream,
A plan without a vision is just drudgery,
But a vision with a plan can change the world.

Creating the 'Duwamish Vision'

DRCC facilitated the Duwamish Valley Vision in anticipation of the EPA's River cleanup options (called the Draft Feasibility Study by EPA) proposed by its responsible parties (polluters).  That document was released on April 24, 2009, and is being reviewed by DRCC and by EPA. Learn more here!

But you know that the Duwamish River Valley is more than just a cleanup site – it is part of your city; your home or workplace.

The Duwamish Valley Vision Project is an ongoing, comprehensive, community-based future visioning project, which engaged people who live, work or visit the Duwamish Valley through workshops, mapping and interviews. The project compiled over 500 diverse community ideas, concerns, and visions into a comprehensive ‘future map,’ which includes transportation, housing, recreation, jobs, and habitat restoration.

The Duwamish River Valley Vision was released in February, 2009 and You helped make it happen!  The Duwamish Valley Vision Report explains our process and results, and is available to the public for downloaded here (6.7MB file).

Click here to view the poster-sized Duwamish Vision Map composite and layers (29MB zip file), or here for a smaller .jpg file.

The zipped file contains:
The Vision map composite, Green layer (Environmental Features), Red layer (Community Amenities), Blue layer (Economic Development), and Orange layer (Transportation).

Implementing the 'Duwamish Vision':

Now, we invite the community to activate and implement the bold ideas proposed in the Vision. DRCC presented the Duwamish Valley Vision report to local, state, and federal agencies responsible for the Superfund cleanup, and will encourage organizations working in the watershed to adopt Vision elements as their own.

We are using the Vision to demonstrate to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the river's polluters that the Duwamish River is a living river and that the Duwamish Valley Vision is a living document full of ideas, big and small that YOU want to make happen.  This is your chance! Please contact DRCC (206-954-0218) if you would like to participate in activating the Vision!

View the Duwamish Vision page on Great City's Seattle Network, an online interactive network focused on sustainable public participation in urban landscapes. Key elements of the Duwamish Vision that relate to Superfund cleanup include, increasing living wage jobs through the impending cleanup work via partnerships with local schools and training programs, reducing ongoing sources of pollution through natural drainage 'green streets,' and increasing educational opportunities within the watershed. View our ongoing projects and join a group through the Seattle Network.

If you would like a copy of the full report and maps on disc, or would like DRCC to make a presentation about the Vision to your school, business, or organization, please contact us at: email or call (206)954-0218.

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"Industrial Strength" Natural Drainage Project

8th Avenue South and E. Marginal Way South is currently a busy industrial hub, with manufacturing, recycling, warehousing, distribution, multi-modal freight transfer, and other activities occurring daily. The intersection of E. Marginal Way S and 8th Ave South is also a 'gateway' to both the Georgetown residential area, and a small street-end park called Gateway Park North, on the Duwamish River. The street still has original paving from the early 1900s, and was never upgraded with stormwater service through curbs and gutters. Rainwater stands in ever-growing puddles until they evaporate or move through the ground towards the Duwamish River. Pollutants in stormwater are one of the main threats to our aquatic ecosystem.

Since 2005, leadership from the Georgetown Community Council, residents, small business owners, local employees, City and County staff, urban design professionals, and students have collaborated through the "Georgetown Riverview Restoration Project" (GRRP). The GRRP Working Group began meeting to improve an industrially-zoned area of Georgetown for pedestrians, trucks, and the environment. Once the working group began to meet, common needs emerged between the truck drivers, pedestrians, and other employees along the street:

• Connecting the Georgetown community to the Duwamish River, and need for ongoing stewardship
• Pedestrian/traffic safety – for residents & businesses
• Stormwater drainage and pollution control
• Parking and truck mobility
• Traffic flow improvements

Click here to download the 8th Avenue South & East Marginal Way Intersection Design report, which addresses the above concerns.

The Working Group and design team began to work to address immediate drainage issues along 8th Ave South in front of two industrial properties using funds from Puget Soundkeeper Alliance and SDOT Neighborhood Street Funds. The properties along 8th Avenue have unimproved, potholed frontages. One industrial business, Markey Machinery, sought to pave their driveways as part of a larger site improvement project. Originally, Markey Machinery had trouble getting a permit for the project because there wasn't drainage infrastructure to handle stormwater on 8th Ave South. Staff from SDOT, SvR Design and SPU worked to develop a series of ‘industrial-strength’ bioretention cells to capture and filter stormwater that will flow from Markey's paved driveway areas.

Click on the image above to see a full-sized set of plans.

On December 5th, 2009, the GRRP and volunteers planted and mulched the newly constructed swales, with additional plantings needed in early 2010.

Click here for a comprehensive report about the project.

Read a December 22, 2009 Seattle Industry Bulletin article about Markey's natural drainage here.

If you are interested in getting involved, or would like more information about the specifics of the project, please contact us.

Click here to learn about a similar community-based Green Streets project in the International District.

We would like to thank our partners and volunteers, without their support this project could not have happened!

Patty Foley, Jesse Moore, Brian Dougherty, Sherell Ehlers, Lauren Knoblauch, Tom Knoblauch, Nate Cormier and the SvR Design staff, City of Seattle Department of Neighborhoods Matching Fund Award, Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, Shauna Walgren from Seattle Department of Transportation, Katrina Mendrey, Lee Dorigan, Emery Bayley from ECOSS, Bob Lecoque from Markey Machinery, Chris Martin, Katie Collier, and staff from CleanScapes and CDL Recycle, the Whitehead Family, EE Foods, United Rentals, Alaska Logistics, the Coliman Restaurant, Caffe D’Arte, Michigan St. Starbucks, Greenfresh Market, EOS Alliance, Bagel Deli, Compton Lumber and Hardware, Emerald City Printing, Field Roast, GreenFresh Market, Portage Environmental: Karl Unterschuetz, REI, Sawdust Supply, Trader Joe’s, Two Tartes Bakery, Seattle Conservation Corps, University of Washington, and many volunteers!

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Award-Winning Green-Duwamish Watershed Map

ALERT: Due to flooding concerns, the Green River Trail (featured on the southern half of the Green-Duwamish map) will be closed from southern Tukwila city limits to the area just north of I-405, so that sandbags can be placed on the trail. Trail users should be prepared to use alternate routes; please read Tukwila's press release here for more information.

Explore the Green-Duwamish Watershed's Past, Present and Future

The Green-Duwamish Watershed map has won the 2009 Association of King County Historical Associations (AKCHO)'s prestigious annual award for Exhibits. Thanks to everyone involved for making the project possible.

The map is a collaboration between DRCC and ECOSS (the Environmental Coalition of South Seattle), and many other agencies and organizations working in the Duwamish valley. The map is designed to raise awareness and public involvement in the Green-Duwamish watershed, and includes information about parks and public access sites, habitat restoration, cultural history, public art, pollution and cleanup of the river, plus helpful tips on reducing household toxins.

Click here to order a Green-Duwamish Watershed map through DRCC.

The map was produced with grant funding from the Mountaineers Foundation and 4Culture, as well as in-kind and financial contributions from project partners: 4Culture, American Whitewater, Cascade Land Conservancy, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition, Duwamish Tribe, Environmental Coalition of South Seattle, FeetFirst, Green-Duwamish and Central Puget Sound Forum of Governments (WRIA-9), City of Kent, King County Parks, The Mountaineers Foundation, Muckleshoot Tribe, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Nature Consortium, People for Puget Sound, Port of Seattle, City of Renton, City of Seattle, Seattle Southside Visitors Center, City of Tukwila, and Washington Water Trails. Thanks to Holly Taylor and PastForward NW Heritage Consulting for providing historical information, map editing and other map project considerations.

Additional support provided by: Abelard Foundation, Acorn Foundation, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation, Edwards Mother Earth Foundation, and Seattle Foundation.

To read an article about the results of DRCC’s Duwamish Valley Vision Project, click here.

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Environmental Justice Youth Corps

DRCC’s Urban Environmental Justice Youth Corps is a bilingual (English/Spanish) after-school and weekend service learning program for high school students in South Seattle. The free program teaches young people about environmental health and justice issues, and blends community service and field trips with social and environmental issues in South Park and nearby neighborhoods. Students attended classes every Wednesday after school and Saturday afternoons to learn about the environment of the Duwamish River. As part of the curriculum, they went on the Salish Seas research sailboat in Puget Sound, visited the Westpoint Waste Treatment center, went on a kayak trip in the Duwamish, volunteered at Marra Farms and the South Park food bank, and developed their own 'community action' project, which consisted of painting out gang grafitti in South Park, and talking with neighborhood children about the dangers of gangs and the importance of improving the environment within communities.

The 2009 Environmental Justice Youth Corps is provided at no cost for participants, and was in session from March 11th through May 30th 2009. DRCC is raising funds for the Fall 2009 session, and is looking for in-kind contributions and funding to make the program a success! Please contact DRCC for additional details.

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Northwest Toxic Communties Coalition

The Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition (NWTCC) is comprised of community groups and tribal members who live near areas identified as hazardous waste sites in the Pacific Northwest and EPA’s region 10. The coalition works to locate, network with, and empower its member groups to share resources, information and support.

For information about activities of community groups affected by toxic sites, or information on how to join, please contact the NWTCC.
Northwest Toxic Communities Coalition

www.nwtoxiccommunities.org
(206) 941-9549.

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