Settlement Supports Continued Pollution Control Work

Today, the Seattle City Attorney's Office announced that Seattle will receive the largest single-city settlement from chemical giant Monsanto for years of polluting the Lower Duwamish River.

Monsanto will pay the City a $160 million settlement for the release of the City's claims against the manufacturer's role in polluting City stormwater and the Lower Duwamish with highly toxic PCBs.

Settlement funds from chemical giant Monsanto will help Seattle Public Utilities (SPU) continue finding and reducing sources of stormwater pollution-especially PCBs-to the Duwamish.

For more than two decades, our ratepayers have funded pollution control work in Seattle's most critical Duwamish drainage basins. This $160 million settlement will help sustain and expand SPU's continued, critical work to protect public health, the environment, and the long-term cleanup of the Lower Duwamish Waterway.

"We are grateful for the partnership of the City Attorney's Office in securing this settlement," said SPU Deputy Director Ellen Stewart. "Today we also celebrate the Duwamish community and SPU staff, current and retired, who have worked tirelessly across decades to reduce pollution to the Duwamish."

SPU's Duwamish pollution control work includes:

• Source tracing collects and tests sediment from the stormwater system to identify contaminates and their source(s). For identified pollution sources, SPU usually requires property owners to clean up their property and/or SPU cleans related stormwater lines. Between 2002 and 2024, SPU collected and tested more than 1600 samples for PCBs.
• Business inspections ensure businesses and facilities are using best management practices to keep stormwater pollution, including hazardous materials and industrial waste, out of storm drains that flow to the Duwamish. Between 2010 to 2020, SPU conducted more than 200 business inspections each year.
• Pipe Cleaning removes contaminated sediment from pipes. Between 2014 and 2019, we cleaned over 25 miles of pipe.

Learn more about SPU's pollution control work.

Learn more about SPU's work on Lower Duwamish Waterway cleanup.

Seattle Public Utilities media inquiries: [email protected]

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