Nisqually Delta Association records

The Nisqually Delta Association (NDA) was founded 1 May 1970. The aim for NDA was to protect and preserve the Nisqually River Delta, a salt-water marsh home to many local species located ten miles north of Olympia and just south of DuPont. The initial board of directors included Flo (Florence) Brodie, Albert McBride, and Mary Walker. The NDA assisted in lobbying for the Shoreline Management Act passed in 1971, establishing the Nisqually Delta Wildlife Refuge in 1974, protecting the Delta by fighting the Weyerhaeuser (Weyco) Company in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and again in the 1990’s by fighting the Lone Star Northwest company.

During the cleanup of the DuPont site by Weyerharuser and Lone Star in the 1990s through the early 2000s, a member of the NDA started the DuPont Toxics Citizen Oversight Project (DTOXCOP) - and overisght committee of community members and business representatives that kept account of the cleanup progress. NDA also started the Nisqually Point Defense Fund in the late 1990s, along with efforts to create a Sequalitchew Creek preserve.

The NDA continues to protect and preserve the Nisqually Delta.

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Timeline of Select Dates of the Nisqually Delta Association



In 1970, according to the Nisqually Delta Association history webpage the association started during a “...fight in Thurston County over a plan to build a new port facility at the "Atlas Powder Site", along Nisqually Reach. That effort was stopped thru the local political action, thanks to a spirited and loyal opposition.” (https://oly-wa.us/nda/History.php)

May 1, 1970, the Nisqually Delta Association was founded as a Washington state non-profit organization. The initial board of directors comprised Flo Brodie of Olympia, Albert McBride (1927-2012) of Olympia, and Mary I. Walker (b. 1917) of Seattle. The group’s original goal was to protect the entirety of the river basin, from its glacial source on Mt. Rainier to the estuary at Puget Sound. (Evergreen State Archives) In 1972, the Shoreline Management Act (SMA) passed - named the Nisqually shoreline, from DeWolf Bight to Tatsolo Point, 1 of 5 "Shorelines of Statewide Significance". (https://www.historylink.org/File/9927) In 1973, Weyerhaeuser acquired 3,000+ acres in present day DuPont, and immediately announced plans to build a full spectrum forest products facility (sawmill, pulp-mill, dock and more), on the DuPont Shoreline, at the mouth of Sequalitchew Creek. (https://oly-wa.us/nda/History.php) From the mid-1970s into the 1980s, Nisqually Delta Association led a legal challenge to that proposal, a contest that spent twelve years in state courts, and went to the State Supreme Court -- twice! Audubon chapters, the Washington Environmental Council and others supported this effort. (https://oly-wa.us/nda/History.php)

May 7, 1981, Washington State Supreme Court ruled 5-4 against the association's suit challenging Weyerhaeuser’s plan to build a log-exporting facility. The majority decision held that the Nisqually Delta Association and Washington Environmental Council could not challenge the proposal because only citizens living within the boundaries of the annexed land had the right to request review. (https://www.historylink.org/File/9927)

January 15, 1985 - Washington State Supreme Court reheard the dispute and on March 7 ruled again that Weyerhaeuser could build its facility. Association members mourned while many DuPont residents rejoiced at the prospect of an economic stimulus. The final agreement allowed Weyerhaeuser to build the port, but restricted its use with strict specifications about lighting, hours, and what exactly could be shipped. (https://www.historylink.org/File/9927)

Sadly, in 1992, founding president, Flo Brodie, passed away. (https://www.lmtribune.com/obituaries/washington-activist-dies-at-76-63a409ff)

Also in 1992, after the needed permits for building the dock lapsed, Weyerhaeuser entertained other proposals for shipping facilities, none of which got far. A gravel export facility was proposed, and NDA and partners again challenged the legality of the proposal. The Nisqually Delta Association brought attention to the fact that the soil in DuPont was polluted due to the explosives manufacturing that had taken place there from 1909 to 1976. Weyerhaeuser claimed the land had only minimal, non-threatening amounts of contaminants, but in 1990 Janet Dawes called it the “Love Canal of the West,” and argued for extensive clean up. They were awarded a DuPont Works grant to clean up some of these soils - the project lasted a decade. (https://www.historylink.org/File/9927)

In 1999, NDA formed the Nisqually Point Defense Fund to support historical registration of the Nisqually Point to create the Nisqually-Sequalitchew Historic District. (Evergreen State College Archives)

During the DuPont site cleanup, the DTOXCOP (DuPot Toxics Citizen Oversight Project) was formed, managed by Tom Skjervold, who ended up becoming president of the NDA. (Evergreen State College Archives)