February 15, 2001August 2, 2026

Letter to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and Washington State Department of Ecology regarding Port Of Seattle Third Runway project

Notes

Sheldon & Associates, Inc., retained by the Airport Communities Coalition, reviews environmental documents submitted by the Port of Seattle for the proposed Third Runway project at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The letter identifies five key issues with the submitted technical documents, focusing primarily on unsubstantiated conclusions regarding groundwater movement through engineered walls and the project’s ability to re-introduce surface waters into downslope wetlands. The author concludes that the documents do not provide adequate documentation that impacts to aquatic resources meet requirements of Section 401 and Section 404 of the Clean Water Act.

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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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