September 5, 2000August 2, 2026

Evaluation of Port Of Seattle’s Revised Implementation Plan for Des Moines Creek Flow Augmentation Facility

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A biological assessment letter from Columbia Biological Assessments to the Washington Department of Ecology evaluating the Port of Seattle’s revised plans to use City of Seattle drinking water to augment summer low flows in Des Moines Creek. The letter raises concerns about residual chlorine and chlorinated by-products, fluoride toxicity to fish and aquatic life, and differences in conventional water quality parameters between drinking water and stream water. The author concludes there are too many unanswered questions and that the Port’s plan inadequately addresses potential harms to trout and salmon in Des Moines Creek.

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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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