|
For close to 15 years, BJ Cummings has had a passionate relationship with the Duwamish River.
Back in the mid-’90s, she coordinated kayak-bound nature lovers in chronicling the poisoning of the river by toxin-producing businesses. “It was kind of Seattle’s dirty little secret,” remembers Cummings.
But in 2001, that secret was exposed, when the U.S. government named the Duwamish a Superfund site, requiring polluters to take responsibility for cleaning up the waterway. But who would be responsible
for keeping tabs on the polluters? Cummings, it so turned out, who, around the same time, sought and obtained a job with the then-new Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition (DRCC), an alliance of environmental, business, and community groups seeking to combat the river’s pollution.
Since then, the DRCC has claimed a number of victories, including getting the Port of Seattle to cleanup a PCB-laden section of the waterway called Slip 4. She’s also led the organization in working with local communities to restore native habitat and speak out for the waterway’s health. And there are the free, multi-lingual tours the DRCC offers of the waterway, providing locals a chance to see a river that runs right under their noses.
Re-imagining a healthy Duwamish is possible, she says, but it’s up to those living on and near its shores to shepherd that rebirth. “It’s entirely in their control,” |
