1. Environmental Justice and the Duwamish River
Jonathan Betz-Zall
Highline Community College Library
April, 2009,
Updated October 2013

2. Duwamish River

3. Warning!

4. Wildlife still here

5. Pioneer Days Duwamish not always an industrial sewer.
First European Americans conformed to the meandering shape of the river.

6. Duwamish in 1909 All rivers tend to meander.

7. Pioneers Divide the Land and Water
Contrast the curved shapes of nature with the square corners of the land claims.

8. Early Industrial Plans
an ideal spot for industrial uses
Water for
Cooling
Transportation
Waste Disposal
All made easier by “straightening” the river

9. Dredging the River Steam dredge at work

10. Now – The “Duwamish Waterway”
Current schematic map—no curves.

11. Farmland first First European-American land use-- farming.
[Image of Marra Farm, in South Park]

12. Native American workers
Before they were forced onto reservations, Native Americans used to come and work for European American farmers.

13. Pushed out by Industry
First Boeing Plant in Georgetown

14. EPA sees a need for Early Action Sites
“A century of heavy industrial use has left the waterway contaminated with toxic chemicals from many sources – industries along its banks, stormwater pipes, and runoff from upland activities, streets and roads. Pollution in the river sediments includes polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dioxins/furans, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (cPAHs), and arsenic. Many of these chemicals stay in the environment for a long time, and have built up to unsafe levels in resident fish and shellfish. Because of contamination, state and local health departments warn against eating crab, shellfish, or bottom-feeding fish from the Lower Duwamish River (salmon are ok because they move quickly through the waterway).”

15. Cement Plant “Duwamish River Industry 2007”
[painting by Robert Connell]

16. Still polluting!
From a Seattle Times story on the Puget Soundkeeper Alliance

17. Resulting Mess! Toxic (poisonous) Hazardous (corrosive/burning)
Carcinogenic (causing cancer)

18. Environmental Injustice in Seattle
Red dots: Toxic Waste Sites
Green Dots: Hazardous Waste Sites
Blue Dots: Superfund Sites
Light areas: low income
Red outlines: People of Color
11/12/2018

19. Community Resistance
1962—Housewives marched on City Hall to protest burning at South Park Dump.
Mid 1960s-- South Park was rezoned as industrial residents staged a protest at City Hall and got half of the zoning changed to low-density residential.
Late 1970s—South End Seattle Community Organization protests plans to demolish Lucille Street Bridge. The city replaced it instead. Repeated in 2010.
1993—Concerned about truck traffic, the South Park Business and Citizens Group protests plans to expand recycling center.
—Community Coalition for Environmental Justice campaigns against Long Painting Company pollution.

20. Long Painting
2001—Community Coalition for Environmental Justice campaign against a polluting facility

21. Public Hearing

22. Failed Cleanup Effort
Toxic mud got spread out instead of being removed.

23. Replanting
Direct remediation

24. Cultural Connection
Duwamish Tribal dancers

25. Planning for the Future
Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition leads a community visioning session.

26. KCTS Documentary
For more detailed information, you can view this documentary film by our local public television station KCTS.