Notes
Seattle Times article by Jack Broom (August 15, 1996) on the massive fill dirt operation required for Sea-Tac Airport’s $455 million third runway project. Project manager Michael Cheyne states 14.25 million cubic yards of fill dirt must be imported at a cost of $120 million, with sources considered including Maury Island, North Bend, Black Diamond, Maltby, DuPont, and Vancouver Island. Delivery methods under study include trucks, barges, a new pier, a new rail spur near former Longacres racetrack, and conveyor belt routes up to four miles long from Des Moines Creek, Tukwila/Renton via Highway 518 and I-405, and the Duwamish Waterway via Highway 509. Des Moines opposes the runway project; nearby cities filed a second legal challenge citing faulty environmental analysis. Engineer Hank Hopkins secured right-of-way through Des Moines Sewer District property for a 7-foot-wide enclosed conveyor belt.