August 21, 2000August 2, 2026

Assessment of Port Of Seattle’s Potential Use of Drinking Water to Augment Summer Low Flows in Miller and Des Moines Creeks

Notes

A fisheries biologist at Columbia Biological Assessments assessed the Port of Seattle’s proposal to use City of Seattle drinking water to augment summer low flows in Miller and Des Moines Creeks. The assessment concluded that free chlorine and fluoride in drinking water are toxic to fish and other aquatic life at relatively low concentrations, and that chlorine residuals in tap water far exceed Washington State water quality criteria. The letter recommends against using municipal drinking water for stream augmentation and suggests well water as a potentially less harmful alternative.

Sidebar On/Off

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.

continue...

V V

Notes

Message