February 16, 2001August 2, 2026

Comments on Impacts to Wetlands, Streams and Fisheries Resources From Proposed 3rd Runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport

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A letter from Azous Environmental Sciences, retained by the Airport Communities Coalition, providing detailed comments and analyses on the December 2000 updates to the Natural Resources Mitigation Plan and related documents for the proposed Third Runway at Sea-Tac Airport. The letter critiques the Port of Seattle’s wetland functional assessment, arguing that key analyses of wetland functions being eliminated are missing, that wetland area loss calculations are unscientific, and that there is no cumulative effects analysis. The author uses data from Port documents to illustrate that the proposed mitigation package fails to address the correct environmental functions being lost.

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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.

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