Photo credit: Allison Frost/OPB
The need for increased community engagement in the Portland Harbor Superfund project seems to me a central issue. In comparing the Duwamish and Portland Harbor, there seems a significant difference in the levels of engagement between the two cities’ governing bodies and the communities most affected by the Superfund and the clean up process. Admittedly, the vantage point I gained on the Lower Duwamish River project was more in retrospect and is perhaps not a fair comparison with Portland Harbor. However, I believe Portland can learn from the mistakes and successes in Seattle. The communities from the neighborhoods of South Park and Georgetown and the Duwamish Tribe were driving forces insisting on more and better engagement with the City and Port of Seattle as well as the EPA. And most importantly, those communities pushed for better clean up technologies and it seems they helped the City and Port of Seattle recognize how essential it is to use technologies that remove more of the contaminants. The City of Portland recently conducted a survey of Portland residents on their priorities and opinions about the Portland Harbor cleanup. This was the first outreach by the City on the clean up and was not widely distributed, nor was it comprehensive in eliciting the full views of the public with its limited questions and “pick a box” format. I spoke with Delia Mendoza and Lucia Llano of the Portland Harbor Community Coalition last week, who both echoed Paulina Lopez from South Park about the need for community meetings with food and childcare provided and be culturally appropriate to successfully engage the various affected communities. We have heard from communities surrounding both the Lower Duwamish River and the Portland Harbor that being able to safely eat fish from these rivers are of utmost priority to them. The priorities for the City and Port understandably revolve around cost. It’s time to learn from the Duwamish and other Superfund clean up projects that while more expensive technologies that remove more contamination seem prohibitive from a cost analysis, lingering contamination or contamination that is spread from improper dredging or damaged caps are not worth the recontamination of our river, fish, and people. -Lola Goldberg
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10:30 AM: We met with Linda Dombrowski, an anthropologist and member of the Duwamish tribe. She told us about the early settling of Seattle, and how the Duwamish were displaced from their lands. As the area changed to residential land, then to industrial, the river that the Duwamish people depended on became polluted. The most resonating statement that Linda made was that the Duwamish are not looking for complete restoration of the river, but are looking for community support and to use the best available practices to keep people safe. Photo below of Linda Dombrowski. 12:00 PM: We walked across the highway from the Duwamish Longhouse to Herring House Park, which offers views of the Duwamish. We met with BJ Cummings, who helped found the Duwamish River Community Coalition. The coalition consists of many organizations that had been working on trying to get cleanup to happen for many years, the longest standing being the Duwamish people. The coalition first worked as a watchdog organization of preliminary cleanup along the river. With their help, the Port of Seattle learned about the re-contamination introduced by sewer overflow and an inefficient dredging process. Throughout the process of planning, cleanup, and restoration, the influence of the DRCC has lead to an increase in community involvement planning. One thing I appreciated from DRCC was the commitment to not only provide daycare for children of parents involved in meetings, but also involving the children in the decision-making process. In Arnstein’s A Ladder of Citizen Participation (1969), providing child care and reimbursement for missed work to attend meetings is on a higher rung of citizen participation. Using Arnstein’s guide, DRCC may classify as a partnership style of citizen participation, since DRCC shares their findings and influences the Port of Seattle and EPA (1969). Photo below of BJ Cummings at Herring House Park. 1:45 PM: We headed to one of the hottest restaurants in South Park, Napoli Pizza, to meet with Julie Congdon, and other representatives from the City of Seattle and Port of Seattle. Julie is currently in the process of revising the Duwamish River Superfund Community Involvement Plan. Her colleagues shared with us how important it has been to have DRCC’s influence on the cleanup process. They also shared their community engagement process for South Park residents for Terminal T117, which we were able to tour. I was happy to hear the process was very community driven, with Roy commenting that “if you communicate, the community responds positively.” DRCC gave guidelines to the City of Seattle on what levels of community engagement they should aim for. Photo below of our class on the tour of T117. 4:00 PM: We head to the South Park Community Center to talk with Paulina Lopez and two of her Youth Corps Members. Paulina is the Community Engagement and Outreach Manager for DRCC. We went on a walking tour of South Park, and learned some of the downsides to when entities try to do work without communicating with the community. An example of this would be the skatepark we saw, that was built by a private donor without the community’s feedback (seen in some of my classmates posts). The park soon became covered in graffiti and unusable to skate. We headed to Muy Macho after the tour for some great food.
7:00 PM: Our last destination before heading to our AirBnb for the night was the South Park Senior Center for karaoke night! Overall, it was a long day of learning. We heard from multiple stakeholders about the importance of community engagement. I’m glad to be involved with Portland Harbor Community Coalition, and plan to learn more about how community engagement is happening around the Portland Harbor Superfund Site. -Kristen References: Sherry R. Arnstein (1969) A Ladder Of Citizen Participation, Journal of the American Institute of Planners, 35:4, 216-224, DOI: 10.1080/01944366908977225 The similarities between the Lower Duwamish River in Seattle, Washington and the Lower Willamette River in Portland, Oregon are truly fascinating. The two rivers have a braided history of being labeled “industrial/ economic engines”. Both rivers have been rerouted and deviated from their natural course, deep channeled for shipping, and heavily contaminated with persistent organic pesticides, The current conditions of Lower Duwamish and the Willamette rivers contribute to negative impacts on the health and lives of tribes, immigrant, and poor who live adjacent to its shores. The neighborhood of South Park, in South Seattle, has very similar economic, cultural, and social makeup as St. Johns, in North Portland. Each neighborhood is impacted with heavy transportation, industry, and high amounts of cultural diversity.
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Paulina and her group of community advocates creatively covered up gang tags along the “scary trail,” a trail they have cleaned up and maintain.The trail is an example of action and inaction where city, state, private, and public property collide, making it difficult to create lasting change. Murals around the city pay homage to the founders of this community. | Hanging metal signs on street lights with different silhouettes of ships seem to celebrate the industrial heart of Southpark and Seattle. |
"White settlers came to the Seattle area in 1851, establishing a townsite they first called New York, and then, adding a word from the Chinook jargon meaning "by-and-by," New York-Alki.” -Seattle Municipal Archives
Discovering Seattle's deep history of industry, economic and community development put into perspective the complex issues revolving around development in both long and short term thinking. This past weekend I could see clearly how the past is still very present in today's world. The Duwamish River was a great example of this continued impact, for example the profound injustices demonstrated by the commandeering of the Duwamish tribe's land, to the negative effect the Superfund site has had on the health and safety of South Park's citizens.
Although people have tried to control, utilize or tame the waters of the Duwamish, the problems morphed into systemic problems that possibly stemmed from the rivers complex history.
-Katie
Brief History of Seattle. Retrieved from http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/seattle-facts/brief-history-of-seattle
Discovering Seattle's deep history of industry, economic and community development put into perspective the complex issues revolving around development in both long and short term thinking. This past weekend I could see clearly how the past is still very present in today's world. The Duwamish River was a great example of this continued impact, for example the profound injustices demonstrated by the commandeering of the Duwamish tribe's land, to the negative effect the Superfund site has had on the health and safety of South Park's citizens.
Although people have tried to control, utilize or tame the waters of the Duwamish, the problems morphed into systemic problems that possibly stemmed from the rivers complex history.
-Katie
Brief History of Seattle. Retrieved from http://www.seattle.gov/cityarchives/seattle-facts/brief-history-of-seattle
Of all of the interesting perspectives that were voiced and all that I saw and learned, one part of our trip to Seattle stood out to me: just how industrial the Duwamish River is. Compared to the Willamette River in Portland, the Duwamish seemed much more like an “economic engine.” The amount of industry on the Duwamish and its importance to the city, makes the conversation about the Superfund site different than the one being had in Portland. In Seattle all parties accept that the river will continue to be primarily for industrial use, and that all other uses will be secondary. B.J. Cummings and the representative from the Duwamish Tribe both acknowledged this on our trip.
In class we discussed the role of nature in our largely urban society. In Seattle the citizen’s access to the Duwamish as a natural feature is not as much of a possibility as it is on the Willamette. In Portland it is less clear what the primary functions of the river will be into the future. With the Superfund cleanup in Portland we have the option of increasing the relatively small amount of industry on the river. We also have the opportunity to possibly make it a natural retreat in the heart of our city. A place to be in “nature” and to benefit from it as a food source as well. From all of the readings on the cleanup that we have explored thus far in the course it appears likely that the end result of the cleanup will be a mix of these. The Duwamish cleanup in Seattle holds many lessons for us here in Portland, but it is remarkably different in this way. It will be fascinating to see how industry and nature are balanced in the final plan of the cleanup and how it is brought into reality.
Kirk
In class we discussed the role of nature in our largely urban society. In Seattle the citizen’s access to the Duwamish as a natural feature is not as much of a possibility as it is on the Willamette. In Portland it is less clear what the primary functions of the river will be into the future. With the Superfund cleanup in Portland we have the option of increasing the relatively small amount of industry on the river. We also have the opportunity to possibly make it a natural retreat in the heart of our city. A place to be in “nature” and to benefit from it as a food source as well. From all of the readings on the cleanup that we have explored thus far in the course it appears likely that the end result of the cleanup will be a mix of these. The Duwamish cleanup in Seattle holds many lessons for us here in Portland, but it is remarkably different in this way. It will be fascinating to see how industry and nature are balanced in the final plan of the cleanup and how it is brought into reality.
Kirk
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We are Portland State students who care about the urban rivers of the Pacific Northwest.
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