July 31, 2000August 2, 2026

Approval process for stormwater management plan for proposed 3rd runway development actions at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

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Northwest Hydraulic Consultants (nhc), retained by the Airport Communities Coalition, writes to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Washington State Department of Ecology to remind regulators that numerous substantial technical concerns about the Stormwater Management Plan (SMP) for the proposed 3rd runway at Sea-Tac Airport remain unresolved. The letter highlights that independent reviews by Pacific Groundwater Group and King County have corroborated serious problems with hydrologic modeling, and warns that recent focus on HSPF model calibration is causing other substantive issues to be neglected. The authors request full public disclosure of ongoing SMP discussions and a meaningful comment period before regulatory approval.

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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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