Advocacy and Community Engagement

In 2024, our Advocacy team successfully advocated for:

• $336,000 in the King County Council budget for preparation and recovery from potential flooding, as well as flood insurance for unincorporated King County residents in South Park.

• $40,000 for Concord PTA’s general operating budget from City of Seattle

• $5,000 for South Park Neighborhood Association programming from South Park Area Redevelopment Committee

• $5,000 for flood preparation for unincorporated King County residents from Washington State University

• Continued local and accessible summer youth programming by Parks and Recreation and Seattle Academy of Arts and Sciences, free for all (about 60 families served)

• Teen and Tween Late Night to continue at Concord Elementary for the duration of the South Park Community Center’s closure

• $110 million for the WA Dept. of Transportation for a zero-emission Medium and Heavy Duty vehicle voucher program from the federal government

• Funding and execution of the Zero Emission Drayage Truck Incentive Program, which aims to provide funding and assistance to drayage truckers. The funding provides between 50-80% of the cost of a zero-emission truck and necessary charging/fueling infrastructure

• $3 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA( for the Northwest Seaport Alliance to conduct an emissions inventory, a feasibility study, workforce development and community engagement, and planning for climate resilience

• $3 million from the EPA for the Port of Seattle to conduct a vessel and maritime fuel inventory, feasibility studies, and engagement with the community

Meetings attended in support of community organizing in 2024:

Monthly: 

• South Park Neighborhood Association

• Georgetown Community Council

• Georgetown Community Council Board of Directors

• Community Capacity 

Weekly:

• Flood Community Advisory Group Facilitators/Seattle Public Utilities

• Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition

Bi-monthly/Quarterly:

• Seattle Public Utilities Customer Review Panel

• Georgetown Neighborhood Center Visioning Group

• City of Seattle Resilience District Advisory Group

• Flood Community Advisory Group

DRCC re-invested $214,000 into community from various funding sources via youth/community stipends, events and more.

In 2025, our Advocacy team is looking forward to two more job fairs, partnering with SPU and the US Water Alliance to develop a career pipeline pathway to jobs in the water industry, supporting development of a Duwamish Valley Youth Corps cohort for driver’s ed, more engagement of flood-impacted community members, supporting the Georgetown Neighborhood Center Visioning Group in next steps, working with the Duwamish Valley Affordable Housing Coalition to acquire property, strengthening relationships between local industry and local job-seekers, and more!

Environmental Law & Climate Policy

Ready to Get Involved? Take the Washington CCAP Survey!

Commerce and the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency are currently conducting a joint survey seeking feedback to inform the Washington State and Seattle-Tacoma-Bellevue Metropolitan Statistical Area Comprehensive Climate Action Plans (CCAPs). Public feedback is critical to guiding the priorities for CCAP development, as well as topics for further engagement in your region over the next year. You can complete the Washington CCAP Survey to provide input on GHG reduction measures, sectors of focus, and co-benefits of climate action that are important to you and your community.

This year, DRCC is focusing on four main legislative priorities that will help protect the health and wellbeing of our Duwamish Valley community:
1. The Cumulative Risk Burden (CURB) Pollution Act to change Washington's permitting process to include Frontline communities and environmental justice concerns.
2. Phasing-out leaded aviation fuel by 2031 at all Washington airports to protect health. Lead is banned in our paint, homes, and car fuel. Let's get it out of our airplane fuel to improve the health outcomes of airport-impacted communities.
3. Protecting the Advanced Clean Trucks rule from misinformation and bad-faith actors who are prioritizing profit over the health of Washingtonians and our environment.
4. Ensuring that the legislature is allocating budget funds that live up to the environmental justice and climate promises of the Healthy Environment for All (HEAL) Act and the Climate Commitment Act.

The Duwamish Air Improvement Study for Youth

Do you know a child with asthma?

Superfund Site

What’s happening now on the Duwamish River Cleanup:

January 2025

• During the week of January 13: Cleanup activities will continue in Sediment Management Areas (SMAs) 2, 3, 4, 6, and 9.  See the map of cleanup areas linked below. Cleanup at SMA 7 has been rescheduled to Season 2 of construction. Work at SMA 9 includes continued installation of sheet pile. This may cause higher noise levels.  

• Contractors will begin backfilling in SMAs where dredging of contaminated material has been completed, replacing it with clean material. Barges will bring the clean material to the SMA, and an excavator on a separate barge will place the material in and around the dredged area.  SMA 3 will be backfilled first. SMA 4 backfilling may also start this week depending upon the completion of SMA 3.  

• Construction is ongoing from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturdays. Movement of barges may occur outside of these work hours.

• You can reach out to our team during construction hours should you have questions or concerns. Reach out to us at info@ldwg.org or 1-888-561-LDWG (1-888-561-5394).

• The Lower Duwamish Waterway Group and the EPA are teaming up to attend the Department of Ecology’s monthly office hours. Stop by any time to learn more, chat with project staff, or ask your questions. Wednesday, January 15
  4:00–6:00 p.m.
  At Seattle Public Library – South Park Branch

Check out the timeline

What is happening in our CLEAN AIR PROGRAM?

The Duwamish Valley Youth Corps Winter cohort has started!

We would like to begin by giving a warm welcome to all of the new and returning DVYC youth to our winter program! We hosted orientation last week and were thrilled to see over 70 youth who took the time and made the commitment to show up. It was a great pleasure to meet so many new folks as well as to reconnect with our returnees. We are humbled to know that so many of the young folks in this community look to DVYC for engaging, educational, and rewarding afterschool programming. Thank you!

This winter we are looking forward to hosting another heartwarming, intergenerational program in partnership with the South Park Public Library - The Learning Buddies! In this group, 10 of our DVYC youth get to work with elementary school students on educational games to strengthen their understanding of mathematics, language, and speaking skills. Last year we saw how this program provided mentorship for young children, while also helping DVYC youth to build their leadership skills as role models for the next generation. This group will also have the opportunity to work on mural design for future artwork in South Park!

Stay tuned to our next newsletter to learn more about the other cohorts that we are hosting this winter season! We’re so excited to get another program started, and can’t wait to share more with our community as the year unfolds!

Join DRCC!!!

We invite you to join our team. DRCC is a small and mighty team that centers a dynamic, collaborative, and highly interdisciplinary environment.

Sign up to the Maritime High School now!

Reconnect South Park Survey

Potential Futures for the SR-99 segment through South Park. 

Your feedback on each of the *4 Options* below is critical in crafting the Community Vision Plan - framework for the City of Seattle, other agencies having jurisdiction, and further technical studies towards reconnecting South Park!

To achieve our goals we need your support, your voice, your involvement, and your ideas!

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