During a 20-minute cruise on the Duwamish River that hugged the columns, and riprap, of the West Seattle Bridge, Mayor Greg Nickels was surrounded by cameras as he introduced a new approach, and a new firm, to developing a salmon and shorebird-friendly habitat on the troubled, industrial waterway.

Nickels announced that the Duwamish River Habitat Restoration Project would include the city's partnership with Bluefield Holdings. An ecological company based in Seattle its plan is to lease out city-owned riverfront parcels for habitat development and sell environmental credits to businesses that have culpability in the river's current polluted condition.

The mayor said that if the city acted alone, it would take longer than using Bluefield's services which could focus on the cleanup effort more efficiently.

As the river is a Superfund site, protocol is usually 10 years or more for such restoration, according to BJ Cummings, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition coordinator.

"It's a good first step," said Cummings with cautious optimism. "This is just the study phase and we have to ask the (City) Council to approve the habitat plan."

"We're really excited to be working with the mayor on this," said Scott Lockert, representing Bluefield Holdings. "He's a national environmental leader. A lot of these projects are situated under bridges and utility corridors that might otherwise not be used, and we want to make use out of these micro pockets as potential habitats."

For more about the company and plan go to: www.bluefieldholdings.com and www.duwamishcleanup.org .