More than 230 pounds of garbage — including hundreds of golf balls — were pulled from the Upper Duwamish River during a community cleanup in Tukwila on Thursday, June 26, 2025, as part of an ongoing effort to address the river’s toxic legacy.
Led by Puget Soundkeeper and supported by youth interns from Unleash the Brilliance, the cleanup marks the first of two scheduled events this summer targeting debris hotspots in a four-mile stretch of river between Southcenter and Codiga Park.
The next cleanup is scheduled for Saturday, July 26, 2025.
“Legacy debris shows how we once treated our rivers like dumping grounds,” said Anna Bachmann, Clean Water Program Director at Puget Soundkeeper. “If we’re serious about stewardship, we need to clean it up.”
Thursday’s effort was also supported by the River Access Paddle Program, which provided boats and guides to navigate the difficult terrain. The stretch of river in Tukwila presents a logistical challenge, with limited access points, high embankments choked by blackberry bushes, and long-buried debris.
Much of the waste dates back decades and includes plastics that are breaking down into microplastics, as well as old tires that release harmful chemicals like 6PPD-quinone — a compound lethal to returning salmon.
Advocates say this ongoing pollution continues to harm not just wildlife, but also the communities along the Duwamish.
Puget Soundkeeper’s Salmon and Legacy Debris Project, funded by a Washington Department of Ecology Public Participation Grant, has removed more than 13,000 pounds of debris and 130 tires from the river in the past two years.
More information about upcoming events and the project’s broader mission is available at legacydebriscleanup.org and pugetsoundkeeper.org.
