Duwamish Valley Community Equity Program
Port of Seattle
DVYC members, now Port of Seattle Interns
In 2013, the Cumulative Health Impacts Analysis (CHIA) was co-authored by Just Health Action and the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group. The CHIA found that a range of health exposures and impacts disproportionately affect people in the Duwamish Valley, an area with the greatest number of contaminated waste sites, poorly built environment characteristics, and severe air pollution compared to the rest of Seattle. Life expectancy in the neighborhoods of Georgetown and South Park is up to 13 years shorter than wealthier parts of Seattle. With the support of this data, the Duwamish Valley is characterized as an area with disproportionate health impacts and environmental injustices where more effective actions and investments are needed to address health and economic inequities.
Recognizing that some near-Port communities, such as the Duwamish Valley, experience a higher proportion of environmental impacts and lack equitable access to the Port’s benefits to the region, the Port of Seattle, Duwamish Valley community members, and health equity non-profit, Just Health Action, launched a pilot project in 2017.
Originally as part of a U.S. EPA Environmental Justice Pilot Project technical assistance grant, the pilot project focused on improving engagement with near-Port communities that experience environmental justice issues. Following two years of focused work, the pilot phase of the project is complete and on May 28th, 2019 the Port of Seattle passed a Motion to build an ongoing Duwamish Valley Community Equity Program (DVCE) that formalizes the collaboration with Duwamish Valley communities. View this historic Commission meeting here, featuring PCAT member Rich Brown!
The Program seeks to achieve three shared goals:
1) Community-Port capacity building
2) Healthy environment and communities
3) Economic prosperity in place
Fore more information of the Program click here
READ THE RESOLUTION AND COMMUNITY BENEFITS COMMITMENT
Contact:
From community: Contact : PCAT@gmail.com
From the Port: please email Christina Billingsley, Sr. Program Manager, Environmental Engagement at Port of Seattle - billingsley.c@portseattle.org.
BREAKING NEWS:
Port of Seattle adopts Resolution 3767, the Duwamish Valley Community Benefits Commitment!
Accomplishments
PCAT and Port staff co-created the first policy at a Port authority to partner with a near-Port community to address environmental justice issues! Commission adopted Resolution 3767, the Duwamish Valley Community Benefits Commitment (CBC) on Dec. 10, 2019!
December 10, 2019 - Adoption of the Policy (item 8b)
November 19, 2019 - First reading of the Policy - featuring PCAT member Jose Chi (item 8b)