EXH 389: Declaration Amanda Azous Supporting ACC Reply Motion for Stay

A wetlands scientist named Amanda Azous filed a legal declaration opposing the Port of Seattle's airport expansion project, arguing that filling approximately 2.8 acres of wetlands near Miller Creek would cause serious and irreversible environmental harm. She contends that the Port's mitigation plan—relying on stormwater management, embankment walls, and upland planting—cannot adequately replace the lost wetland functions, particularly the critical water and nutrient flows these wetlands provide to the broader Miller Creek watershed. The declaration was submitted in support of the Airport Communities Coalition's motion to halt the project before the Washington Pollution Control Hearings Board in 2001.

Notes

Declaration of Amanda Azous filed in PCHB Case Nos. 01-133 and 01-160 (Airport Communities Coalition v. State of Washington Department of Ecology and Port Of Seattle) in support of ACC’s reply on motion for stay of Section 401 Certification No. 1996-4-02325 and CZMA concurrency statement issued August 10, 2001, reissued September 21, 2001. Azous asserts scientifically substantiated harmful impacts to Miller Creek, Walker Creek, and Des Moines Creek watersheds from filling approximately 2.8 acres of wetlands in the near term and permanently impacting 20.42 total acres. Argues Port Of Seattle mitigation is inadequate, stormwater management and upland enhancement cannot replace wetland functions, hydrologic monitoring of Wetlands 18, 19, and 20 has not occurred, and that removing over 21 percent of hydrologically connected wetlands in the Miller Creek watershed was not adequately considered. Rebuts declarations of Dr. James Kelley, Steven G. Jones, Joseph Brascher, Donald W. E. Weitkamp, Paul S. Fendt, Katie Walter, Ann Kenny, Eric Stockdale, and Kelly Whiting.

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