Duwamish Longhouse director and tribal member James Rasmussan hosted a State of the Duwamish River symposium with three speakers and more than 80 attendees at the Longhouse and Cultural Center Thursday, May 13.

He referred to the event as an annual accounting of the clean-up process. The three speakers included Kathy Fletcher, executive director of People For Puget Sound, BJ Cummings, Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition departing coordinator, and incoming coordinator Thea Levkovitz.

"For 20 years I have been an environmental point person for the Duwamish cleanup effort," said Rasmussan. "In the changes we've made we are in a much better place than we were 20 years ago. But it's like cleaning up your kitchen. If you don't get it completely clean the dirt comes right back. We need to do a 'state of river, state of the Sound' annual update. There is no yearly update of what is happening and thats what we want to do."

As Rasmussan Introduced Fletcher, he said, "When we and other curmudgeons got things started it was Kathy who was able to bring our ideas on line."

Fletcher is known in the area for getting a tugboat stationed at Neah Bay, a decade-plus effort.

"The Duwamish Longhouse is close to a lot of wildlife habitat restoration, and it just hit me when I got out of my car and was overwhelmed by bird sounds," said Fletcher. "Most who live in this region consider this a rotten industrial landscape and don't realize what a rebirth is going on here on the Duwamish."

Fletcher was referring to the 17-acre Herring House's Park across the street from the Longhouse on West Marginal Way. She recommended "The Price of Taming a River" by local author Mike Sato. The title refers to the ongoing polluting of the Duwamish River.

"Once you restore a site it is ongoing, a labor of love," Fletcher pointed out. "We don't have the wonderful soils around the river. And we have litter and invasive weeds. So stewardship is very important. The People for Puget Sound is Involved with Restore America's Estuaries, a national group, and with Chesapeake Bay Foundation and the San Francisco Bay Association to help bring habitat restoration to the Duwamish River.

"Through the Puget Sound Partnership Governor Gregoire set out to restore the river's health with a deadline of the year 2020 deadline. Now panic is setting in, as we are just trying to start turning the corner on returning the river's health and it's almost 2010.

"It's a troubled body of water and, I would argue, in crisis. We're in trouble."

Fletcher outlined the Puget Sound Partnership areas of most concern, habitat alteration and land convertion, destroyed critial original habitat, pollution, surface and groundwater supply issues, and artificial propagation, or fish farm aquaculture where people are raising Puget Sound creatures, like Atlantic Salmon.

"More than three quarters of old growth forest has been removed in the last 50 years in Duwamish basin. Storm water is the number one source of pollution in the river. Not rainwater itself, which is pretty clean. When it hits the surface drips from our cars and litter finds its way into storm drains. Hydrocarbons, a fossil fuels byproduct, contaminate the water and harm the salmon.

Added Cummings, "The Duwamish is our only river in Seattle, and is the historical and spiritual home of the Duwamish Tribe. Eight years ago the river was named a National Superfund Site. That means it is considered one of the most toxic waterways in the country.

Cummings pointed to two projected images on a screen, before and after shots of the river that illustrate how its course has straitened to accommodate trade.

"The river was once nine miles of meandoring river and was turned into a five mile channel to accomodate shipping with decades of uncontrolled direct dumping of industry," said Cummings. "It became a shipping highway in, and waste highway out. What settled to the bottom has lead us to where we are today. Forty-one chemicals line the river bottom forming a toxic stew."

"BJ has left the organization, and community, quite remarkable," said Levkovitz. "We have a daunting task to address the historic legacy of river while we face the cleanup. We might ask if it is possible. The word 'hope' has been bandied about. Get to know your river. Really build a personal relationship. Join us on our kayak trips this summer and our free public harbor boat tours."