Visit with CM Saka 

Last week, Councilmember Rob Saka (District 1) came to visit DRCC! CM Saka was able to meet with staff as well as community members to discuss important concerns and priorities for the Duwamish Valley. Topics included the speed racing occurring through neighborhoods, disproportionately higher asthma rates and air pollution, immigration protections, advancing anti-displacement protections for homeowners and renters, and ensuring equitable development throughout Seattle in the Comprehensive Plan. Thank you to CM Saka for taking the time to engage with your constituents! CM Saka often holds office hours at the South Park Library, if you want to meet with him you can email erik.schmidt@seattle.gov. 

Advocacy on Flooding

Last month a group of flood-impacted neighbors in South Park met with an organization called Buy-In.org. Thanks to funding from a Climate Resilience grant from King County, Buy-In will help neighbors develop a survey to determine hyper-local and specific needs and vulnerabilities, train them to administer the survey, and help to aggregate the results into an advocacy tool. This work is the culmination of three years of organizing and learning along with neighbors who were affected by the river overtopping in 2022, in partnership with Villa Comunitaria and Just Health Action. Reactions to the meeting ranged from concern to cautious optimism to hope for a more certain future in the face of sea level rise and climate impacts. This partnership with Buy-In coincides with the recent release of two reports, Living with Water (from a collaboration between DRCC and the UW Center for Disaster Resilient Communities) exploring nature-based solutions to flooding, and the City of Seattle’s report on the Duwamish Valley Resilience District, a report describes work undertaken over the past 3 years to advance holistic sea level rise (SLR) adaptation in the Duwamish Valley.

You can find both reports here, under the heading Living With Water, as well as many other updates on climate and flooding resilience.

Electric trucks- Zero Emissions

Take a look at some of our team and partners celebrating the start of the WAZIP program!

DRCC at Black Earth Day

Seattle’s Urban League invited DRCC to be at their Black Earth Day this year! For decades Seattle’s Urban League has worked on legislative advocacy on environmental justice issues, voting, better education, and entrepreneurship. This year DRCC shared the Duwamish Valley model, and spoke about controlling sources of river pollution, flooding impacts and solutions, and local air pollution hotspots in the area. At the end of Earth month we recognize that biodiversity and the protection of self-regulated ecosystems provides long term benefits to us. It is just a matter of keeping it as it is.The protection of biodiversity and natural ecosystems prevents the acute impacts of flood protection, cooler temperatures, air pollution and so much more short term benefits. Long term benefits are reflected in climate impact changes. Learn more about changes at the Federal Level that may impact this at: https://preserve.nature.org/page/171039/action/1

The Recycling Reform Act passed

Please share and complete the survey to ensure the program has your input! 

https://erg.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eDQUfsgZFhcM2I6

In this month’s Community Advocacy meeting Community members asked the question: How much do we know about airplanes and their impact on air pollution? 

• Airplanes have a major impact on our health and pose a significant climate risk. However, that’s not the full picture.

• DRCC’s low-cost air monitoring sensor network measures PM2.5 and PM10 (particles in the air that are 2.5 or 10 micrometers in diameter or less that worsen our health) and NO2 (smaller gas molecules that come from cars, trucks, and power plants that also worsen our health).

• The network does not measure ultrafine particles, UFP, particles in the air that are .1 micrometers in diameter or less which are emitted by airplanes. Though airplanes pose significant risk to our health and climate by emission of a number of particles such as PM2.5, NO2, SO2 and CO2, our network does not measure their UFP emission. 

• However, a recent study found that airplane emit 14% of the UFP near the SeaTac Airport. Road traffic is an additional major source of UFPs outside of the airport area. These findings provide information on the blind spots that may arise from our network and begin to create a more holistic picture of our local airplane emissions. 

Learn more about the SeaTac Airport at the Fix the Harm website, a campaign that focuses on improving airport impacts.

DRCC 12th Year Anniversary - Congratulations Carmen Martinez!

As we celebrate another year of community, leadership, and impact, we want to recognize the incredible contributions of Carmen Martinez. Through her work with the Duwamish Youth Corps. Carmen has helped uplift more than 1,200 youth and the next generation of environmental justice leaders.

Her dedication goes beyond programs; she creates space for young people, especially from immigrant and frontline communities, to see themselves as stewards of their environment and advocates for their neighborhoods. Under her leadership, youth have not only learned about the history and challenges of the Duwamish River, but have also taken action to protect it and reimagine a healthier, more just future in the Duwamish Valley. 

Carmen’s commitment, BIG heart, and vision continue to shape the Duwamish Valley in meaningful ways. We are grateful for her leadership and excited for all that lies ahead. Happy 12th year's Anniversary Carmen!

GIVE BIG FOR DRCC! 

We here at  DRCC healthy communities is a  BIG deal. And for Washington's annual GiveBIG Day (Tuesday, May 5), we want to make sure you have the chance to support our mission and our community in our work protecting the Duwamish Valley! 

Early giving for GiveBIG has already started, and there are three ways you can help DRCC our $20,000 goal: 

1) Donate: Make your clean water gift online today! DRCC-Duwamish River Community Coalition | Washington Gives 

2) Fundraise: Set your own fundraising goal for DRCC  Create your own fundraising page and help us get to our goal! 

Duwamish River Festival coming up on August 8th to South Park! 

We are back after sadly cancelling last year for community concerns. 

This year, we are partnering with Cultivate South Park for SOPA SUPA and bringing a great party in the community!  Be ready for lots of fun activities, educational booths, entertainment, lucha libre, cultural performances and more. 

Are you interested in more information, volunteering or to be a sponsor?  Please contact Robin@drcc.org.