Skykomish students earn Bush salute

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, April 21, 2002

Herald Staff and News Services

President Bush honored a group of Skykomish High School students at the White House last week for raising awareness with a video report about oil seeping into the Skykomish River.

Bush presented the President’s Environmental Youth Awards in the Rose Garden, where he saluted the Skykomish youths and other winners for civic activism.

Students in the film class at Skykomish were honored for their video called "Oily Sky." They revealed the inadequacy of efforts to stop oil seeping into the Skykomish River from an old railroad refueling station.

The honored students are: James Valentine, the official winner, and Ryan Brousseau, Angela Coryell, Bonnie LeCoque, Scott McCausland and Davut Hasdemir.

The town worked for years to bring attention to their concerns. They formed a local environmental coalition. But the students’ video made a difference.

Now that work has begun to clean the site contaminated by oil and heavy metals during years of use by Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, residents of Skykomish in north King County have begun to address other concerns, including possible PCB contamination.

Much of the 15-acre underground oil plume runs under a designated historic section of the town, which residents want preserved. Louise Bardy, site manager for the Department of Ecology has said a final cleanup plan that addresses all issues should be in place by spring 2003

Environmentalism can be simple, Bush said. "What may appear to be a small act is really important: cleaning up a park, or recycling, or encouraging people and showing people how to conserve energy."

The students, Bush said, were well on their way to meeting his challenge to every American to give 4,000 hours in lifetime national service.

"I may have to assign you another 4,000 hours here pretty soon," he quipped.