Working Waterfront Coalition | Keeping Washington State's Waterways Navigational and Improving the Environment

The Working Waterfront Coalition (WWC) is committed to achieving the complementary goals of continued environmental improvements and maintenance of Washington State's working waterfronts' viability. Unfortunately, recent regulatory initiatives and interim policies threaten the maritime commerce and waterfront operations that are such a key component of Washington's environment, economy and culture.

For 20 years, the Dredged Materials Management Program (DMMP) has helped keep waterways navigational by successfully moving thousands of tons of low-level contaminated materials from our urban waterways and safely depositing them in carefully-selected, deep-water disposal sites where they are will not interfere with the natural environment or enter the food chain.

We are alarmed at new regulations that make this safe disposal method economically unfeasible. The consequences would be disastrous for the economy and the environment:

Costs for disposal would escalate dramatically and navigational dredging would become economically prohibitive
Waterways would fill with sediment and navigation of shipping channels would become unsafe
Good paying, family-wage jobs would be lost due to significantly increased dredging costs
Sediments would continue to build up in our urban bays and waterways. Low-level contaminants would remain close to people and the food chain - undermining efforts to clean up near shore aquatic areas.

In response, a broad-based coalition representing industrial and commercial users of waterfront facilities, ports and concerned citizens joined together to form the WWC. Our members believe that through a collaborative, transparent approach, grounded firmly in science, we can all work together to improve the health of bays in Puget Sound.

Learn more about WWC...

We need your support so we can continue our role as environmental stewards. Send an e-mail to to request more information.