March 4, 2002August 2, 2026

Letter to Hon. Kaleen Cottingham re: PCHB No. 01-160, ACC v. Dept. of Ecology and Port Of Seattle chess clock format

Notes

A letter from Helsell Fetterman LLP attorney Peter Eglick to Presiding Officer Kaleen Cottingham of the Pollution Control Hearings Board regarding the use of a chess clock format during hearings. The letter encloses a Verbatim Report of Proceedings from Thurston County Superior Court in which Judge Hicks denied the Port of Seattle’s Motion to Set Aside the Board’s Stay Order and suggested a per-side chess clock approach. The letter was submitted to distinguish Judge Hicks’s per-side approach from Ecology’s proposed per-party approach.

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As the source for federal transportation grants, the Puget Sound Regional Council was charged with developing a system to meet the growing need for commercial aviation. When the search for a second airport failed, they authorized the Port of Seattle to build the Third Runway, with a mandate to develop a noise abatement and mitigation program. In their effort to stop the Third Runway, the ACC argued over every detail of the Port's efforts--including property buyouts and sound insulation. The dispute was meant to be settled by a three member Expert Arbitration Panel. This is their final report. It finds 2-1, that the Port's program was insufficient in several respects. Despite that, funding for the Third Runway was approved by the PSRC, and the 'Port Package' program, proceeded largely unchanged. Expert Arbitration Panel's final decision finding that the Port of Seattle had not shown sufficient reduction in real on-the-ground noise impacts to satisfy noise reduction conditions required for approval of a third runway at Sea-Tac International Airport. The majority decision concluded the Port's noise abatement programs were insufficient despite being impressive in scope.

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