Notes
Public comment letter dated August 14, 2026, from David E. Ortman (Seattle, WA) to Port Of Seattle Senior Environmental Program Manager Steve Rybolt on the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Near-Term Projects (NTP) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS), SEPA No. 2026-01. Ortman critiques the DEIS for failing to address alternatives under RCW 43.21C.030(c)(iii), omitting health and noise impacts beyond the airport perimeter, and ignoring property valuation impacts. Proposes relocating Joint Base Lewis-McCord (JBLM) to Moses Lake and moving Sea-Tac Airport to JBLM served by rapid transit. Raises concerns about the Port’s 30-year gap in issuing EIS documents, the Flight Corridor Safety Program tree removals (800 trees in 2016, 174 trees in 2019 SEPA DNS), FAA verification for tree removal requests, airline responsibility for air and noise pollution mitigation costs, and use of the word ‘sustainable’ in the project name. References Seattle Times article quoting COO Arif Ghouse and The Urbanist projecting 64 million passengers within five years of NTP completion.