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EXH AR022982: ACC Review Wetlands Mitigation Plan STIA Third Runway Construction

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Sea-Tac Airport
Third Runway
PCHB
Box 10

A wetland scientist hired by the Airport Communities Coalition reviewed the Port of Seattle's proposed wetland mitigation plan for the SeaTac Third Runway construction and concluded it was wholly inadequate. The report argues that the planned out-of-basin mitigation at an Auburn site fails to replace the wetland functions lost in the Walker Creek, Des Moines Creek, and Miller Creek watersheds, and that placing mitigation in a different drainage basin cannot scientifically compensate for local losses under Washington State environmental law. The reviewer also warns that the Auburn mitigation site faces multiple risks and is unlikely to be sustainable long-term.

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Letter dated August 16, 2000 from Azous Environmental Sciences to Washington State Department of Ecology, US Army Corps of Engineers, US Fish and Wildlife Service, National Marine Fisheries Service, and EPA, submitted on behalf of the Airport Communities Coalition (ACC), reviewing the wetland mitigation plan proposed by Port Of Seattle for the SeaTac third runway. The reviewer (SWS certification 001067) concludes the mitigation is wholly inadequate, citing: mitigation insufficient to reduce adverse impacts in Walker Creek, Des Moines Creek, and Miller Creek watersheds; out-of-basin Auburn wetland mitigation not functionally equivalent to losses within WRIA9 (Green/Duwamish River Basin); Auburn site subject to multiple sustainability risks. Discusses ‘Dead is Dead’ philosophy (Mar, Urban Ecology 1980/1981), WAC 173-201A-070 antidegradation policy, and Ecology Publication 97-112. Reviews Parametrix documents, Pacific Groundwater Group SeaTac Runway Fill Hydrologic Studies Report (June 2000), and Auburn Wetland Mitigation Project FSEIS Addendum (May 2000). AR 022982.

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