Site history: Chronic releases of hazardous substances following the industrialization of the waterway in the early 1900s to the present.

Location: The Lower Duwamish River (approximately a five mile stretch), near Elliott Bay, Washington.

Trustees:

• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
• U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI)
• U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
• Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife
• Washington State Department of Ecology
• Suquamish Tribe
• Muckleshoot Indian Tribe

Case status:

• Remedial investigations underway
• Injury assessments underway
• Restoration Planning Phase underway

Overview: 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 industrial area and numerous facilities line the banks of the river. These include port facilities, manufacturing plants, chemical and solid waste recycling companies, ship repair yards, and numerous combined sewer outfalls. Multiple cleanups are being conducted in the Lower Duwamish River by the EPA and the Washington Department of Ecology. The area of cleanup extends from Harbor Island upstream to the end of navigable waters. Resources at risk include the benthic community, flatfish, and salmon, particularly Chinook salmon and steelhead, which are 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.

Clean-up of the highly industrial Lower Duwamish River is being addressed through EPA led (Superfund and the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act) and state led programs. NOAA works within the remedial process to improve the quality and scope of assessments in the remedial investigation. NOAA provides input related to sampling plans and data interpretation of collected sediment, water, and tissue. In addition, NOAA provides input regarding impacts to trustee resources, particularly through the ecological risk assessment process. As the process moves toward the feasibility study, NOAA recommends cleanup actions that will be protective in the long term and requests long term monitoring to track cleanup progress. NOAA and the other trustees encourage coordination among EPA, responsible parties, and the trustees to identify opportunities to incorporate restoration into the remedial actions to create efficiency and get to restoration in a timely manner.