On Saturday, April 21, I participated in the Earth day event at the Superfund site on the Duwamish River. I had an opportunity to speak with James Rasmussen of the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition/Technical Advisory Group (DRCC/TAG) about some of the challenges of working with such a diverse group of stakeholders and coming up with common goals for the restoration. James explained that one of the preliminary goals of the project was to include the people living in communities that are impacted by the condition of the river, and ensure their voices are heard. He spoke about BJ Cummings, who founded the Duwamish River Cleanup Coalition in 2001 to represent and empower the Duwamish Valley's diverse resident, immigrant, fishing, recreational, environmental,
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Initially the EPA plan involved a minimum of one meeting for public participation, James requested a minimum of 15 to allow the community to be fully involved in the clean-up planning process. If I recall correctly, James said there ended up being around 7 meetings held with the community. Some of the first meetings involved the use of translators because there are many languages used in the communities surrounding the Duwamish. James said it was very difficult to listen to the monotone interpretations of the translator while watching the passion in the foreign speaker that was being translated. At that point, James realized they would have to approach the way meetings with communities were planned. To provide better communication with the communities, DRCC/TAG collaborated with community members to host multiple events so that many different groups would have the opportunity to discuss the health of their community and their vision for the future in their native languages. Latino, Somali, Vietnamese, African American, Native American, and other voices of all ages were able to participate in these events, allowing their concerns to be fully understood and expressed by DRCC/TAG. One of the milestones James seemed proud of was the South Park public hearing that was held in Spanish, this was the first Spanish speaking meeting ever held by the …show more content…
Paulina plays a large role in helping Spanish speaking communities along the Duwamish to have their voices heard. Having a voice in the restoration is critical in the long-term success of all restoration programs, it helps people feel more connected to the restoration site and increases the pride they have in caring for it. Paulina fights for environmental justice for people whose voices were not previously heard because of a language
Initially the EPA plan involved a minimum of one meeting for public participation, James requested a minimum of 15 to allow the community to be fully involved in the clean-up planning process. If I recall correctly, James said there ended up being around 7 meetings held with the community. Some of the first meetings involved the use of translators because there are many languages used in the communities surrounding the Duwamish. James said it was very difficult to listen to the monotone interpretations of the translator while watching the passion in the foreign speaker that was being translated. At that point, James realized they would have to approach the way meetings with communities were planned. To provide better communication with the communities, DRCC/TAG collaborated with community members to host multiple events so that many different groups would have the opportunity to discuss the health of their community and their vision for the future in their native languages. Latino, Somali, Vietnamese, African American, Native American, and other voices of all ages were able to participate in these events, allowing their concerns to be fully understood and expressed by DRCC/TAG. One of the milestones James seemed proud of was the South Park public hearing that was held in Spanish, this was the first Spanish speaking meeting ever held by the …show more content…
Paulina plays a large role in helping Spanish speaking communities along the Duwamish to have their voices heard. Having a voice in the restoration is critical in the long-term success of all restoration programs, it helps people feel more connected to the restoration site and increases the pride they have in caring for it. Paulina fights for environmental justice for people whose voices were not previously heard because of a language