Airport Committee recommendation highlights program failures
At Monday night’s meeting, the Burien City Council will be asked to support and transmit to the Port of Seattle Commission the following letter. The letter is a specific response to the Port’s 2024 Sound Insulation Repair Replacement Pilot Program (SIRRPP), which was intended to begin addressing documented problems with hundreds of sound insulation systems (known as Port Packages) going back to the Third Runway.
What a difference almost two years make
Hopes were high in January 2024 after Port Commissioner Hamdi Mohamed testified in Olympia in support of SB5955 creating a state fund to support updates. In February, the Commission allocated $5,000,000 from the Port’s Property Tax Levy to create the SIRRPP, but those hopes began to dim almost immediately when program language was revealed a one year study period. The report was delivered and now, after almost two years, still no homes fixed.
By itself, the letter cannot compel the Port to act, However, it is hoped that Des Moines, Kent and SeaTac (the other cities with troubled Port Packages) will sign on to the letter. With the upcoming new state legislative session, it will demonstrate to state legislators that the Port’s efforts have not addressed the intent of SB595.
Burien City Council Regular Meeting – 06 Oct 2025 – Agenda
Dear Port Commissioners:
The City of Burien calls to your attention the Port of Seattle’s multi-decade failure to repair or replace Port-installed noise insulation packages, commonly known as “Port packages,” which have degraded or failed.
We believe it is time for the Port to abandon its current program, and to work with Burien and other airport cities to design—and fund with Port resources—a viable program that will provide our residents with long-awaited relief. Burien suggests you consider as a model the program at San Francisco International Airport, where proceeds from city-county property tax revenues are used to repair and replace failed sound insulation installations.
Starting in the mid-1980s, approximately 9,400 homes adjacent to Sea-Tac Airport were outfitted with Port packages. Exactly how many have failed is unclear, but there is evidence to suggest they number, at a minimum, in the hundreds. To the best of our knowledge, not one failed Port package has been repaired or replaced unless by property owners forced to use their own funds. To date, there has been no comprehensive effort to identify and analyze these failed packages.
In February 2024, the Port authorized the Port’s Sound Insulation Repair and Replacement Pilot Program (SIRRPP) to identify and evaluate failed packages. The Port contacted 3,000 homeowners where Port packages were previously installed—all within the 2014 SEA 65DNL Noise Remedy Boundary, which delineates the noise zone where Federal financial support would theoretically be available.
Many homes with failed packages are now outside that boundary and, thus, ineligible for Federal financial assistance. This is patently unfair. It is our position that any home with a failed port package should be eligible for remediation.
Of those 3,000 homes initially contacted, 30 (only a one percent sample rate) were chosen for initial evaluation to determine if they qualified for repair/replacement. Notably, this evaluation was based only on the internal noise level in the home—the criterion that would allow for use of Federal funds. Other problems—and there are many—were not considered. Of the 30 homes evaluated, not one qualified for replacement or repair.
We recommend you review the Port’s own “Sound Insulation Repair and Replacement Pilot Program: Assessment Technical Report” that describes the program and its results. That report can be found here. (https://www.portseattle.org/sites/default/files/2025-02/SEA SIPP%20Technical%20Report%20Assessment.pdf). Causes identified in the report include the age of the packages, poor installation, parts not being available, product quality, and issues with the manufacturer’s design. Please see Table 26 in the report for a specific breakdown of window problems.
We would also refer you to Table 24, which shows the breakdown of survey respondents by income and household size. Please note the high number of lower-income households.
It seems reasonable to suggest that if zero out of 30 homes within the 65 DNL boundary qualified, none of the properties outside the boundary will qualify for repair or replacement. While aircraft may have become quieter over the years, total noise and particle pollution has increased along with the sharp rise in annual aircraft operations—from 365,000 prior to the opening of the “third runway” (34L/16R) to 423,000 in 2024. This will intensify with the Port’s projected increase of 28 per cent, to 540,000 aircraft operations by 2034—which will certainly lead to a further reduction in the quality of life for thousands of Burien residents.
The Port of Seattle has only shown interest in repairing failed packages if it can obtain Federal or state funds to cover most of the costs. Especially under our current political and economic circumstances, that is unrealistic.
The City of Burien believes it is time to stop taking the same approach while expecting a different result. We ask the Port of Seattle to create a new and viable program that will actually provide relief to our residents, many of whom are of lesser means and many of whom have been waiting for decades for the Port to act. We look forward to working with you.
Thank you City of Burien for writing g this letter.
It is unacceptable that 5 million was allocated and no homes fixed. I live under the 3rd runway when we bought our house no mention was made of the third runway! Then it was sold to the tax payers as a runway for overflow traffic. That was bs it is a regular heavy noisy runway. No longer use my patio. These homes should be fixed asap and their should be money left to allow people like me to apply to have my windows soundproofed!