April 9, 1998August 2, 2026

Sea-Tac Airport Master Plan: Comments on Aquatic Habitat and Fish for Section 404 Permit Application

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A letter from Fisheries Consultants to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers assessing the impacts of the SeaTac Airport Third Runway development on aquatic habitat and fish populations in Miller Creek. The consultant concludes the project will have an overall neutral effect, with minor benefits from storm flow detention facilities and riparian buffer improvements, offset by minor adverse impacts including creek relocation and reduced summer low flows. The reviewer was hired by the Port of Seattle and has 18 years of salmon habitat enhancement experience.

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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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