Health Impact Assessment & Policy Recommendations (HIA)

The Duwamish River Cleanup Health Impact Assessment (HIA)

In 2013, the University of Washington School of Public Health, Just Health Action, and DRCC/TAG partnered together to examine possible unintended health benefits and consequences of EPA’s proposed cleanup plan, such as opportunities for local employment in cleanup related jobs or changes in diet and cultural practices resulting from contaminated fish. This Health Impact Assessment was funded by the Health Impact Project, a partnership of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Pew Charitable Trust. The HIA made recommendations for strategies to maximize benefits, minimize health impacts, and reduce inequities.

Today, we are seeing implementation action on some these recommendations:

The Duwamish River Opportunity Fund from the City of Seattle serves as a source of funding to implement recommendations from the HIA – $250,000 was awarded in 2014 with an additional $250,000 to be awarded Summer 2015
A City of Seattle Resolution in February 2015 and a King County Motion in May 2015 emphasize the importance of working with the community to mitigate negative impacts on the community and capitalize on opportunities during cleanup design and implementation
- The resolution and motion also both call for the development of Interdepartmental Teams to enable closer coordination on projects and actions that address additional priorities of the Duwamish Valley communities, including affordable housing, transit, access to healthy food, jobs creation, and more.
In 2013, DRCC/TAG worked with EPA to bring the Superfund Jobs Training Institute to the Duwamish Valley. Through this program, 14 residents of the Duwamish Valley were able to participate in this free river cleanup job training as well as receive placement assistance!