Developing the Lower Duwamish River's Draft Restoration Plan

The River's Industrial History

The Duwamish River, once a wide meandering river with thousands of acres of mudflats and wetlands was channelized and narrowed through filling projects by the 1940s. The river flows through a highly industrialized area with numerous facilities lining its banks. Businesses here include port facilities, manufacturing plants, chemical and solid waste recycling companies, and ship repair yards, as well as numerous combined sewer outfalls.

The Lower Duwamish River, an approximately a 5 mile stretch, is listed on the Superfund National Priorities List, and is also noted as the migratory corridor for Chinook salmon in the Green River watershed. Resources at risk include flatfish, steelhead and salmon, particularly Chinook salmon, which is listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. Contaminants of concern include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), phthalates, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), metals, pesticides, and dioxins/furans.

Public Scoping Meetings: Development of the Draft Lower Duwamish River Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

The Lower Duwamish River Natural Resource Trustees (Trustees) seek public involvement in the development of the Draft Restoration Plan and Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (Draft PEIS), which will be designed to evaluate projects necessary to restore natural resources in the Lower Duwamish River injured by hazardous substance releases that have contaminated areas of the River. The Draft PEIS will also identify and address the environmental impacts that could result from construction and maintenance of selected restoration projects. The goals of the scoping meetings are to provide the public with information on the proposed development of the Draft PEIS and to garner public input at the earliest stage of this process.

Once the scoping process is complete, the Draft PEIS will be developed and released for public comment in Fall/Winter 2007. Specific dates and times for future events will be publicized when scheduled. Further opportunities for public comment are provided through public review and comment on documents contained in the Administrative Record, as well as on the Public Review Document and Final Environmental Impact Statement.

The Trustees involved in the development of the PEIS include the U.S. Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), U.S. Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), Washington State Department of Ecology, Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife, Suquamish Tribe of Indians, and Muckleshoot Tribe of Indians.

Meeting Dates and Locations

June 6, 2007 from 6:30 pm to 8:30 pm at South Park Community Center, 8319 8th Ave S, Seattle, WA 98108
June 7, 2007 from 10 am to 12 pm at the Tukwila Community Center, 12424 42nd Ave S, Tukwila, WA 98168

Directions to Meeting Locations

South Park Community Center - http://www.seattle.gov/parks/Centers/southpark.htm
Tukwila Community Center - http://www.ci.tukwila.wa.us/recreation/rectcc.htm

Submitting Comments

Comments on the scoping process can be submitted either via email or regular mail to DuwamishPEIS.DARRP@noaa.gov or John Kern, NOAA Restoration Center, 7600 Sand Point Way NE, Seattle, WA 98115. If submitting comments via regular mail please mark on the envelop “Scoping Comments-Draft Duwamish PEIS”. Comments must be received by August 1, 2007 to be incorporated into the official scoping record. Comments received after August 1 will still be considered by the Trustees in the development of the Draft and Final PEIS, but will not be a part of the scoping record.

For Additional Information

For additional information on the Draft PEIS please contact John Kern at 206.526.6029. For additional information on the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process and requirements please see the Council on Environmental Quality’s website at: http://ceq.eh.doe.gov/nepa/nepanet.htm or the NOAA NEPA website at: http://www.nepa.noaa.gov.