Category : Correspondence(195)

In a March 2018 letter to the Puget Sound Regional Council, the City of Des Moines, Washington, expressed concerns about the disproportionate noise, air quality, and health impacts that SeaTac Airport's rapid growth places on nearby residents. The city urged that Vision 2050's environmental review include a serious evaluation of siting a second major commercial airport in western Washington to relieve capacity pressure on SeaTac. It also called for multi-modal transportation solutions and thorough analysis of jet fuel emissions and other environmental impacts as part of regional aviation planning.

In a January 2018 letter to the Puget Sound Regional Council, Des Moines Mayor Matt Pina raised concerns about the disproportionate noise, air quality, and environmental burdens placed on Des Moines residents by Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's rapid growth, arguing these impacts are inadequately addressed in the Draft Regional Transportation Plan. The city called for sustainability, human health, and community impacts to be central factors in any decision to expand SeaTac's capacity or site a new regional airport. The letter also requested that the plan include discussion of a potential passenger ferry terminal in Des Moines as a multi-modal transportation alternative.

In an October 2017 email to Burien City Council members, resident Sharyn Parker critiques a letter from Port of Seattle Chairman Tom Albro defending Sea-Tac Airport's expansion and noise mitigation efforts. She argues that Albro's response fails to address the real-world impacts of rapidly increasing flight operations—including a 9% annual average flight increase—on surrounding communities, and that the Port's noise modeling data is outdated and understates actual activity by 51%. Parker calls on the Council to challenge what she characterizes as the Port's lack of candor and possible intentional underestimation of flight projections to avoid costly noise and air quality mitigation requirements.

In September 2017, Des Moines, WA resident Steve Edmiston sent a certified letter demanding that the Port of Seattle and the FAA stop increased flight operations over his historic Woodmont neighborhood, arguing that no avigation easement had ever been granted over his property. He cited a dramatic rise in aircraft noise, vibrations, fumes, and nighttime flights linked to expanded use of Sea-Tac's third runway and new navigation procedures, noting that commercial operations at the airport had nearly doubled since 2003. The letter also included a formal public records request for documents related to flight procedure changes made after February 14, 2012, and outlined legal grounds under which affected homeowners may still seek damages despite general noise liability limitations.

Residents of Federal Way, Washington wrote letters to their local mirror newspaper in June 2017 expressing frustration over increasing airplane noise from Sea-Tac Airport, citing quadrupled noise and emission impacts, the need to wear earplugs indoors and outdoors, and calling for a second regional airport at Everett's Payne Field. Former Federal Way City Council member Linda Kochmar, drawing on her decade of experience with the Airport Communities Coalition, urged South Sound mayors to pressure the state legislature and congressional delegation to act. The letters were written in response to a columnist who had minimized residents' concerns, and collectively call for greater media and government attention to the environmental and quality-of-life impacts of the FAA's 2017 Long Range Plan for expanded flight operations.

A June 2, 2017 edition of the Federal Way Mirror features letters to the editor debating airplane noise and airport policy in the Federal Way, Washington area. Residents express frustration over increasing flight noise, with one writer describing it as a 'continual assault' on residents' ears, while another argues that Federal Way should advocate for a second regional airport at Everett's Paine Field rather than expanding Sea-Tac's third runway. The letters reflect ongoing community concern about the quality-of-life impacts of growing air traffic over South Sound neighborhoods.