Early Cleanup of Seattle’s Duwamish River Moving Ahead

With the Port’s participation in the Lower Willamette Group and the Portland Harbor Partnership, news about regional Superfund cleanups is always informative. This article on efforts to clean up a five-mile stretch of Seattle’s Duwamish River is a must-read. The Duwamish Superfund process is a few years ahead of where we are in Portland Harbor, but with similar challenges, including legacy contamination from World War II activities and many parties that are responsible for pollution but are no longer around or in business, leaving the cleanup to those groups still standing. Interesting to watch the progress up north as we move closer to the completion of a Portland Harbor draft feasibility study, which will provide the menu of options the Environmental Protection Agency will use to make cleanup decisions for the Willamette.