THE ELLIOTT BAY DUWAMISH RESTORATION PROGRAM - A STATUS-REPORT

Injuries to natural resources from the release of hazardous substances into aquatic environments have led to hundreds of millions of dollars in compensatory damages awarded under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA) and other legislati on. The institutional mechanisms for negotiating and carrying out the terms of CERCLA natural resource settlements are still in their infanc y, and each case has a unique set of injuries, assigned damages, payou t schedules, trustee council membership and operating procedures, and environmental conditions and constraints. One of the settlements that has made significant progress toward large-scale habitat enhancement h as occurred in Elliott Bay, a busy seriously impacted urban harbor in Washington State. The Elliott Bay case is unique among natural resourc e injury settlements because of the active involvement of two local go vernments, the City of Seattle, and Metro, who were named as defendant s in a lawsuit brought by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Adminis tration (NOAA) on behalf of the natural resource trustees of Elliott B ay. Both local governments have maintained, and continue to operate, o utfalls that discharge into Elliott Bay, and both entities were subjec t to attempts to recover damages under CERCLA. Following the filing of the lawsuit over injuries to the natural resources of the estuary, al leged to have resulted from the operation of these outfalls, the parti es involved negotiated a consent decree settlement. The Elliott Bay/Du wamish Restoration Program has established a process to redress some o f the injuries that were attributed to the operation of these outfalls .