The Port of Seattle will spend $5 million to repair and replace soundproofing equipment it funded years ago in homes near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport that has since failed and led to moldy windows, rotting wood frames and damaged drywall.
Community advocates and residents with failed soundproofing installations in their homes celebrated the approval and hope it signals future funding will be allocated toward rectifying years of neglect. Some residents have suffered decades of excessive noise and mold in their homes, putting them at risk for serious health conditions like hypertension and stress and exacerbating existing ones like asthma.
The pilot program, which will be funded with the Port’s tax levy revenue, was unanimously approved during the Port Commission’s Tuesday meeting.
“This really is the first tangible thing addressing the actual impacts of the airport in years,” said JC Harris, an organizer with the community group Sea-Tac Noise.Info and a Des Moines City Council member. “People who live here deserve a baseline of safety.”
Sea-Tac averaged more than 1,000 flights per day in 2023, with the sound of roaring jets most acutely felt over the north-to-south stretch of South Seattle in Burien, SeaTac and Des Moines where planes near the ground for takeoff and landing.
“I know what it feels like to be impacted by airplane noise,” said Commissioner Hamdi Mohamed, a resident of South King County who sponsored the order creating the program. “The need is great here.”
The Port of Seattle has installed thousands of so-called “port packages” into homes most impacted by the noise to dampen the sound. Most came between 1996 and 2008 when construction was underway on the third runway at Sea-Tac.
Over the decades, roughly 9,400 single-family homes have received these retrofits, costing about $300 million. Installs typically include triple-pane windows, special wall and ceiling insulation and, in some cases, acoustic baffles in attics and chimneys.
But some of those soundproofing devices have failed, the result of poorly installed windows or insulation, or inferior products being used. That’s left some people living in homes with moldy windows or damaged walls, on top of still dealing with the sound of planes overhead.
Noise pollution can increase the risk of hypertension, stroke and heart disease as well as disrupt sleep and lead to chronic stress. That can wear down various organ systems, causing irreversible damage that increases the risk of chronic diseases and early death. Studies have also found noise exposure can impair cognitive performance and likely causes poor school performance among children.
Indoor mold exposure has also been linked with the development and exacerbation of asthma in children and can trigger asthma symptoms in adults.
Denise Utley, a SeaTac resident, said the Port of Seattle paid $44,000 to install a port package in her home in February 2000. Within three years, she said, the windows were leaking, mold grew between the glass panes and water damaged her home’s wood framing and drywall.
“The port contracted the manufacturers, the port picked the list of contractors, the port paid $44,000 of somebody’s money for this,” Utley said during the Tuesday commission meeting.
“But the port unfortunately didn’t stand behind any of it,” she continued.
Under the pilot program, the Port will conduct outreach this year to assess how many households have issues with their soundproofing devices. The port will then identify the families with the greatest needs and most vulnerabilities and fix those homes first, Port Commissioner Mohamed said.
The pilot program will only fund repairs or replacements for port packages at about 30 to 50 homes, Mohamed estimated. Construction is set to begin in 2025.
It’s a first step, Mohamed said. The Port of Seattle will seek state and federal funding to expand the program and ultimately fix all homes with failed port packages, she said.
It’s unclear exactly how many port packages no longer work. State lawmakers said they have a list of at least 100 households that have issues with their packages. Harris, from Sea-Tac Noise.Info, said his organization has documented issues at 350 homes and believes there are far more that have yet to be identified.
A majority of homes with port packages today are inhabited by older adults, immigrant families or families of color and are low-income households, state lawmakers and community advocates estimate. About 36% of people living within a mile of the airport are immigrants, and about 37% nearly experience or experience poverty.
Residents who live within 10 miles of the airport have a life expectancy between 1.7 and 5 years lower than the rest of King County, according to a 2020 Public Health — Seattle and King County report. They also experience higher hospitalization rates for asthma, stroke, diabetes and heart disease.
The new pilot program comes as state lawmakers consider a bill that would raise money to address the failed port packages.
“It’s really a case of economic justice … for a population ignored for too long,” said Sen. Karen Keiser, D-Des Moines, who is the lead sponsor of SB 5955, which passed in the Senate this month and is now being considered in the House.
Many who’ve experienced issues related to the failed equipment cannot afford repairs, she said.
Under SB 5955, the state would create a port district equity fund, overseen by the Washington State Department of Commerce, to which local, state and federal agencies as well as philanthropic groups could contribute money.
The bill also adds a new layer of accountability, with the department of commerce reporting each year how many home inspections have been conducted and how many homes have received repairs or replaced soundproofing with the funding.
“There are so many people who have been suffering,” said Rep. Tina Orwall, the lead sponsor of HB 2103, the House version of the bill. “They [feel] trapped in their homes since they can’t look out the windows. It’s impacting their quality of life, and also [with] the mold, that can be very dangerous.”
The Port’s pilot program is separate from the proposed port district equity fund and will not be overseen by the state commerce department.
Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks: 206-464-2246 or ayoonhendricks@seattletimes.com;Staff reporter Alexandra Yoon-Hendricks covers race and equity for The Seattle Times.