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Direct testimony of Erik Stockdale, Senior Wetlands Specialist at Washington State Department of Ecology, submitted in PCHB No. 01-160 before the Pollution Control Hearings Board. Stockdale, a certified Professional Wetlands Scientist, evaluates wetland impacts from Port Of Seattle Master Plan Update projects at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (STIA). Project will fill 18.37 acres of palustrine freshwater wetlands in Miller, Walker, and Des Moines Creek basins, plus 0.92 acres of prior converted croplands at Vacca Farm (total 19.29 acres permanent impact), and temporarily affect 2.05 acres with stormwater control ponds. Testimony addresses Clean Water Act § 401 Certification, RCW 90.48, wetland mitigation, and water quality standards. Appellants are Airport Communities Coalition (ACC) and Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion (CASE).

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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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