September 10, 2001August 2, 2026

Port Of Seattle Appeal of Water Quality Certification and Stipulated Agreement and Order of Dismissal

Notes

A letter from Marten Brown Attorneys at Law, written by Jay J. Manning, to the Honorable Kaleen Cottingham of the Pollution Control Hearings Board, transmitting the Port of Seattle’s appeal of Water Quality Certification #1996-4-02325 issued by the Department of Ecology for improvements at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including the third runway. The letter also files a Stipulated Agreement and Agreed Order of Dismissal resolving the Port’s appeal, and requests a status conference to determine how to proceed with the Airport Communities Coalition’s separate appeal of the certification.

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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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