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James Rasmussen, director of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and member of the Duwamish Tribe, stands on the bank of the river inside Seattle\u2019s Herring\u2019s House Park. Having spent 30 years cleaning and restoring the river, he says the river is part of his family.<\/p><\/div>\n
At the mouth of the Duwamish, where Kellogg Island stands between West Seattle and the city\u2019s industrial district, there\u2019s the persistent thumping of jackhammers interrupted only by the blaring horns of passing trains and trucks from nearby roads. Construction cranes and large containers are stacked upon barges, and rusted ships rest along the shoreline. The river flows mostly without being noticed.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s on the back of this river that the wealth of the city was made, and it\u2019s never going back to the way that it was,\u201d Rasmussen said.<\/p>\n
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A fish advisory stands in the Duwamish Waterway Park in Seattle, across the river from the Boeing Field. Boeing, the multinational spacecraft manufacturer, is one of the major businesses alongside the river and has been one of the river\u2019s major polluters.<\/p><\/div>\n
Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Duwamish has been heavily polluted by chemicals, runoff and industrial waste oozing from nearby factories<\/a> \u2014 most significantly, cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. In the early 1900s, the city altered the river\u2019s ecosystem dramatically, straightening its winding path and dredging it deeper so that ships could pass through with more ease. Those changes turned the natural river into an industrial estuary.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember coming down here to fish with my dad,\u201d \u00a0Rasmussen said. \u201cAnd when I was young, I was taught by my grandfather [that when you] see an animal or a critter, he would say, \u2018well, that\u2019s your cousin. The cedar trees, they\u2019re like your grandmother and grandfather.\u2019 And the salmon, that\u2019s very much part of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 James Rasmussen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The 63-year-old Seattle-native is a member of the Duwamish Tribe and has served on the tribal council for three decades. His mother and grandfather both served before him. Rasmussen believes his family and his tribe date back to this area over 10,000 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always been here. This is our home. This is the place that was given to us to take care of. We don\u2019t take care of it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Barges and construction cranes rest on the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle. The waterway is a heavily industrialized estuary for the city and the state.<\/p><\/div>\n That\u2019s why Rasmussen has spent years trying to clean and restore the Duwamish, advocating for the interest of the river\u2019s neighboring communities and working as a consultant with government branches like the Environmental Protection Agency. His goal is cleaning up the contaminants in the river as well as making sure there are policies in place to control pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn’t make any sense to spend $350 million dollars to do a cleanup here, and have it, in the next 15 years, be contaminated again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In 2001, Rasmussen helped advocate for EPA\u2019s creation of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site<\/a>. With that designation, the five-mile stretch of the river, deemed a Superfund site, it was put on the EPA\u2019s priorities list and received federal funding, including an initial $33 million for cleanup.<\/p>\n Many advocates, like Rasmussen, believe the river has made a lot of progress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see the life coming back,\u201d said Sharon Leishman, manager of the Duwamish Alive Coalition. \u201cWhen you talk to people who’ve lived here for 60 years, they can tell you they never saw beavers, they never saw herons, they never saw bald eagles. And because of the efforts from the superfund cleanup and a lot residents and government agencies in trying to clean this up and restore native habitat, you can see the river coming back to a very vibrant state.\u201d<\/p>\n A blue heron takes off from the Herring\u2019s House Park and flies toward the Kellogg Island on the Duwamish River.<\/p><\/div>\n But the work is far from over. Leishman and Rasmussen agree the only real way to engage more Seattleites in the river\u2019s restoration is to get them to interact with the river and learn about its history.<\/p>\n \u201cThe river is such an important part of the identity of this area. It\u2019s our connection to nature,\u201d Leishman said. \u201cRestoring the health of the river is, I feel, personally a responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n For Rasmussen, it\u2019s more than identity \u2014 it\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a river, there isn\u2019t a people. And without a people, there isn\u2019t a river.\u201d<\/p>\n [iframe src=”https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/juxtapose\/latest\/embed\/index.html?uid=b348ab60-85fb-11e8-b263-0edaf8f81e27″ width=”100%” height=”950″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_team_member admin_label=”Min” _builder_version=”3.6″ image_url=”https:\/\/seattle2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/Min_Xian.jpg” name=”By Min Xian” \/][et_pb_audio _builder_version=”3.6″ title=”Listen to James Rasmussen” image_url=”https:\/\/seattle2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/min_photos_edited-3-1-e1531444591510.jpg” audio=”https:\/\/seattle2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/Min_Duwamish.mp3″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”3.6″ disabled=”off” disabled_on=”||on”][et_pb_column type=”3_4″][et_pb_text _builder_version=”3.6″]<\/p>\n by Min Xian<\/em><\/p>\n James Rasmussen hasn\u2019t spent the past 30 years cleaning Seattle\u2019s Duwamish River because he\u2019s an advocate. He does it because he calls the river his home.<\/p>\n But the Duwamish, which runs from Elliott Bay to Tukwila, is almost invisible to most of the city.<\/p>\n \u201cThe majority of people in the city of Seattle don’t even know there’s a river here,\u201d said Rasmussen, the director and coordinator of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. \u201cIt wasn’t until last year that they put a sign up there that says you’re crossing the \u2018Duwamish Waterway.\u2019 They don’t want to use the word \u2018river.\u2019 It\u2019s an obvious slight difference, in the sense that people look at it as a waterway. That’s not a natural thing, but a river is.\u201d<\/p>\n James Rasmussen, director of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and member of the Duwamish Tribe, stands on the bank of the river inside Seattle\u2019s Herring\u2019s House Park. Having spent 30 years cleaning and restoring the river, he says the river is part of his family.<\/p><\/div>\n At the mouth of the Duwamish, where Kellogg Island stands between West Seattle and the city\u2019s industrial district, there\u2019s the persistent thumping of jackhammers interrupted only by the blaring horns of passing trains and trucks from nearby roads. Construction cranes and large containers are stacked upon barges, and rusted ships rest along the shoreline. The river flows mostly without being noticed.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s on the back of this river that the wealth of the city was made, and it\u2019s never going back to the way that it was,\u201d Rasmussen said.<\/p>\n A fish advisory stands in the Duwamish Waterway Park in Seattle, across the river from the Boeing Field. Boeing, the multinational spacecraft manufacturer, is one of the major businesses alongside the river and has been one of the river\u2019s major polluters.<\/p><\/div>\n Since the beginning of the 20th century, the Duwamish has been heavily polluted by chemicals, runoff and industrial waste oozing from nearby factories<\/a> \u2014 most significantly, cancer-causing polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs. In the early 1900s, the city altered the river\u2019s ecosystem dramatically, straightening its winding path and dredging it deeper so that ships could pass through with more ease. Those changes turned the natural river into an industrial estuary.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember coming down here to fish with my dad,\u201d \u00a0Rasmussen said. \u201cAnd when I was young, I was taught by my grandfather [that when you] see an animal or a critter, he would say, \u2018well, that\u2019s your cousin. The cedar trees, they\u2019re like your grandmother and grandfather.\u2019 And the salmon, that\u2019s very much part of my family.\u201d<\/p>\n \u2013 James Rasmussen<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The 63-year-old Seattle-native is a member of the Duwamish Tribe and has served on the tribal council for three decades. His mother and grandfather both served before him. Rasmussen believes his family and his tribe date back to this area over 10,000 years.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve always been here. This is our home. This is the place that was given to us to take care of. We don\u2019t take care of it anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n Barges and construction cranes rest on the mouth of the Duwamish River in Seattle. The waterway is a heavily industrialized estuary for the city and the state.<\/p><\/div>\n That\u2019s why Rasmussen has spent years trying to clean and restore the Duwamish, advocating for the interest of the river\u2019s neighboring communities and working as a consultant with government branches like the Environmental Protection Agency. His goal is cleaning up the contaminants in the river as well as making sure there are policies in place to control pollution.<\/p>\n \u201cIt doesn’t make any sense to spend $350 million dollars to do a cleanup here, and have it, in the next 15 years, be contaminated again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In 2001, Rasmussen helped advocate for EPA\u2019s creation of the Lower Duwamish Waterway Superfund site<\/a>. With that designation, the five-mile stretch of the river, deemed a Superfund site, it was put on the EPA\u2019s priorities list and received federal funding, including an initial $33 million for cleanup.<\/p>\n Many advocates, like Rasmussen, believe the river has made a lot of progress.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see the life coming back,\u201d said Sharon Leishman, manager of the Duwamish Alive Coalition. \u201cWhen you talk to people who’ve lived here for 60 years, they can tell you they never saw beavers, they never saw herons, they never saw bald eagles. And because of the efforts from the superfund cleanup and a lot residents and government agencies in trying to clean this up and restore native habitat, you can see the river coming back to a very vibrant state.\u201d<\/p>\n A blue heron takes off from the Herring\u2019s House Park and flies toward the Kellogg Island on the Duwamish River.<\/p><\/div>\n But the work is far from over. Leishman and Rasmussen agree the only real way to engage more Seattleites in the river\u2019s restoration is to get them to interact with the river and learn about its history.<\/p>\n \u201cThe river is such an important part of the identity of this area. It\u2019s our connection to nature,\u201d Leishman said. \u201cRestoring the health of the river is, I feel, personally a responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n For Rasmussen, it\u2019s more than identity \u2014 it\u2019s life.<\/p>\n \u201cWithout a river, there isn\u2019t a people. And without a people, there isn\u2019t a river.\u201d<\/p>\n [iframe src=”https:\/\/cdn.knightlab.com\/libs\/juxtapose\/latest\/embed\/index.html?uid=b348ab60-85fb-11e8-b263-0edaf8f81e27″ width=”100%” height=”950″]<\/p>\n [\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_4″][et_pb_audio _builder_version=”3.6″ title=”Listen to James Rasmussen” image_url=”https:\/\/seattle2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/min_photos_edited-3-1-e1531444591510.jpg” audio=”https:\/\/seattle2018.nextgenradio.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/15\/2018\/07\/Min_Duwamish.mp3″ \/][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The Duwamish isn\u2019t just a river to this lifelong steward \u2013 it\u2019s part of his family James Rasmussen hasn\u2019t spent the past 30 years cleaning Seattle\u2019s Duwamish River because he\u2019s an advocate. He does it because he calls the river his home. But the Duwamish, which runs from Elliott Bay to Tukwila, is almost invisible […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":167,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":" James Rasmussen hasn\u2019t spent the past 30 years cleaning Seattle\u2019s Duwamish River because he\u2019s an advocate. He does it because he calls the river his home.<\/p> But the Duwamish, which runs from Elliott Bay to Tukwila, is almost invisible to most of the city.<\/p> \u201cThe majority of people in the city of Seattle don't even know there's a river here,\u201d said Rasmussen, the director and coordinator of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition. \u201cIt wasn't until last year that they put a sign up there that says you're crossing the \u2018Duwamish Waterway.\u2019 They don't want to use the word \u2018river.\u2019 It\u2019s an obvious slight difference, in the sense that people look at it as a waterway. That's not a natural thing, but a river is.\u201d<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_160\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"] At the mouth of the Duwamish, where Kellogg Island stands between West Seattle and the city\u2019s industrial district, there\u2019s the persistent thumping of jackhammers interrupted only by the blaring horns of passing trains and trucks from nearby roads. Construction cranes and large containers are stacked upon barges, and rusted ships rest along the shoreline. The river flows mostly without being noticed.<\/p> \u201cIt's on the back of this river that the wealth of the city was made, and it\u2019s never going back to the way that it was,\u201d Rasmussen said.<\/p>[caption id=\"attachment_159\" align=\"aligncenter\" width=\"1024\"]\n
\u201cThey don’t want to use the word \u2018river.\u2019 It\u2019s an obvious slight difference, in the sense that people look at it as a waterway. That’s not a natural thing, but a river is.\u201d<\/h4>\n
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The Duwamish isn\u2019t just a river to this lifelong steward \u2013 it\u2019s part of his family<\/h1>\n
\n
\u201cThey don’t want to use the word \u2018river.\u2019 It\u2019s an obvious slight difference, in the sense that people look at it as a waterway. That’s not a natural thing, but a river is.\u201d<\/h4>\n
James Rasmussen, director of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition and member of the Duwamish Tribe, stands on the bank of the river inside Seattle\u2019s Herring\u2019s House Park. Having spent 30 years cleaning and restoring the river, he says the river is part of his family.[\/caption] A fish advisory stands in the Duwamish Waterway Park in Seattle, across the river from the Boeing Field. Boeing, the multinational spacecraft manufacturer, is one of the major businesses alongside the river and has been one of the river\u2019s major polluters.[\/caption]