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GeoSyntec Consultants, retained by the Airport Communities Coalition, responds to the Port of Seattle’s April 30, 2001 comments regarding their earlier technical review of the Third Runway Expansion Project at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The letter addresses concerns about the West Mechanically Stabilized Earth (MSE) Wall, including insufficient laboratory strength testing, potential underestimation of liquefiable materials, and incorrect seismic stability analyses. GeoSyntec maintains that the Port has not demonstrated that a stable wall can be economically constructed or that it can withstand seismic loads without large, unacceptable deformations.

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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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