Notes
Two Seattle PI articles reprinted in a Sierra Club special report titled ‘Locke’s Legacy.’ First article by Bob Sheckler (Airport Communities Coalition Chair, City of Des Moines Mayor Pro Tem), published March 14, 2001, warns of seismic dangers of the proposed 15-story, 1450-foot retaining wall (“Great Wall of SeaTac”) to support Sea-Tac Airport’s third runway, citing liquefaction risks in weak peat and loose sands, threat to salmon-bearing streams and wetlands, and geotechnical expert findings of potential wall failure under seismic events. Second article by Larry Lange, published November 5, 2001, reports ACC appeal of water-quality certification for the third runway; Department of Ecology assistant attorney general Joan Marchioro advised requiring a water right to secure summer flows in Des Moines, Miller, and Walker creeks, but Ecology later declined; coalition director Kimberly Lockard called this a potential legal violation; port attorney Jay Manning argued water-right process would be “tantamount to saying you can’t do it”; Pollution Control Hearings Board ordered inadvertently released attorney-client privileged notes returned.