Understanding Environmental Justice: A Seattle Perspective

BY ANDREW LEE | SEATTLE, WA

On January 7, 2022, residents in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood woke up to a historic 10-year storm during an extraordinary 12-foot-high tide. When I arrived at the neighborhood, I saw entire streets engulfed with stormwater – stormwater that had nowhere to drain until the tide receded.

Over several hours, my co-worker Sahba and I knocked on the doors of impacted homes. Residents showed us their basements with furniture moved around and drywall cut up because of sewer backups, overland flooding, and groundwater intrusion. Some shared their experiences trying to manage their sewer backups all night long. They were tired and yet still had more work ahead of them.

That day, I left South Park with a strong sense of community resilience and fortitude, and a call to action.

Environmental Injustice in South Park

South Park is located along the tidally influenced Duwamish River and is one of the most racially diverse neighborhoods in Seattle. More than twothirds of the neighborhood identify as people of color, including a thriving Hispanic population. In a city with tremendous wealth, and headquarters for Amazon and Starbucks, almost 30% of South Park’s residents live below the poverty level. Residents have a shorter life expectancy and higher rates of asthma and diabetes.

South Park’s environmental burdens are significant. The neighborhood’s northern boundary is the Duwamish River; this waterway is a treasured part of the community, a Superfund site and the frontline of sea level rise for Seattle. The neighborhood also has fewer formal roads, sidewalks, and drainage infrastructure than most neighborhoods in Seattle.

Environmental Injustice Has its Roots in Racism

Nationwide, communities of color endure greater environmental damage and health disparities compared to wealthier white neighborhoods. Every major city across the county has its own version of South Park. And, unfortunately, the water infrastructure in these neighborhoods has been reinforcing racial inequities rather than protecting people, public health, and the environment.

A spotlight is on environmental justice in our water sector. It is exposing systemic problems through communities like Jackson and Flint. As with any spotlight, the more it shines, the more we become aware of how environmental injustice is deeply rooted into the fabric of our country.

Changing How We Make Decisions

Making decisions is and has been a big part of my career as an environmental engineer. Now, as General Manager of a utility, I’m working to ensure that our decisions address systemic injustice.

This year, I attended a training held by the People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. We talked about how public employees are community gatekeepers because we are empowered to make significant community decisions. To be a gatekeeper who strives for justice, I need to be a “liberated gatekeeper” who centers marginalized communities in decisions, focuses on reducing burdens, and builds community health and well-being.

Becoming a Liberated Gatekeeper Starts with Relationships

Liberated gatekeepers go beyond just knowing the names of the community members and their leaders. They are in deep, sustained relationships with impacted communities; they witness community priorities in action, attend celebrations, and show up in times of crisis. They are intimately familiar with how environmental harm has fostered strength and resilience and created deep community ties. With their strong connection to community, they reflect their care through consistent and meaningful actions.

As Seattle Public Utilities’ executive, I am striving to guide organizational change in our work with environmental justice communities. My journey began with a simple commitment to spend more time with leaders in South Park. That relationship-building led to significant self-reflection on my department’s role in perpetuating environmental injustice, and several short-term and long-term actions that begin to address entrenched harms.

We’ve hired community members as partners, increased community-focused inter-agency coordination, and pushed to complete longstanding infrastructure improvements. We’ve increased our advocacy for community-led initiatives, including being mindful of the South Park community when we meet with federal, state, and county officials. While I’m pleased with what we’ve recently done, our journey has just begun.

For me, January 7 was a painful call to action. It reminded me that my responsibilities matter. Clean water leaders and institutions hold true places of power and influence that must be harnessed for justice – regardless of how difficult it may be. Start by building real relationships in overly burdened communities. Show up when the infrastructure you manage is, again, burdening a vulnerable community. Do whatever you can to become the liberated gatekeepers that our cities and communities need.