2009 Duwamish River Festival

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

The Lower Duwamish Waterway site is a 5.5 mile stretch of the Lower Duwamish River which flows into Elliott Bay. The waterway lies south of downtown Seattle, and is flanked by industrial corridors as well as the South Park and Georgetown neighborhoods.

Sediments (mud and sand on the river bottom) in and along the waterway contain a wide range of contaminants from years of industrial activity and from stormwater. The Washington State Department of Ecology and EPA are working to clean up contaminated sediment and control sources of recontamination.

EPA added about five miles of the waterway to its list of Superfund cleanup sites in 2001. The contaminants in the waterway sediments include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), mercury and other metals, and phthalates.

Visit www.epa.gov/region10/duwamish to learn more about EPA's efforts to clean up and restore the lower Duwamish River.

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items are from 08 Aug 2009.