TagFlyer(24)

Washington State Senator Karen Keiser's 2022 interim report discusses plans for an 'Airport of the Future' to address growing aviation demand in the Puget Sound region, which is projected to exceed 100 million passengers per year by 2050 — more than SeaTac can handle. Recognizing SeaTac's limitations and its noise and air pollution burdens on nearby residents, a bipartisan Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission is evaluating potential new 'greenfield' airport sites in Pierce and Thurston counties. The new airport is intended to be environmentally and socially responsible, incorporating electric, hydrogen, and sustainable aviation technologies to avoid repeating the pollution and noise problems associated with SeaTac.

This circa-2002 community advocacy document from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs opposes construction of a third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, arguing that the Port of Seattle lacked required environmental permits, had already spent over $300 million, and that the project posed serious risks to local wetlands, fish habitat, and watersheds affecting 150,000 south county residents. The document also highlights a controversial proposal to transport arsenic-laden fill material via a conveyor belt through Des Moines Beach Park and Des Moines Creek to the airport construction site. Residents are urged to contact Port commissioners and local city council members to halt the project.

A community flyer opposing a proposed conveyor belt system through Des Moines, Washington, that would transport arsenic-laden fill material from Maury Island to Sea-Tac Airport in support of the Port's Third Runway construction project. The Des Moines City Council had unanimously rejected the same proposal in 1999, and residents were urged to contact their council members to block the revived plan. Opponents argued the project would industrialize Des Moines Beach Park and put Des Moines Creek at environmental risk.

A 2001 community newsletter documenting widespread opposition to Sea-Tac Airport's proposed third runway construction, which required destroying 18 acres of wetlands. Residents, local elected officials, and independent experts raised serious concerns about earthquake safety, environmental damage to local streams and salmon habitat, and the structural integrity of four unprecedented earthen retaining walls planned for the project. The Port of Seattle's applications were repeatedly challenged and withdrawn due to fatal flaws in environmental planning and seismic risk analysis.

This Fall 2000 newsletter from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs covers the Port of Seattle's controversial third-runway expansion at Sea-Tac Airport, focusing on the Port's withdrawal and resubmission of its wetlands permit application after regulators were poised to deny it, amid allegations of political interference. It also reports on the reassignment of veteran Department of Ecology analysts critical of the project, community opposition including a student activist group called KIK, and a proposed state legislative effort to study alternative airport sites rather than expand Sea-Tac.

This Winter 2000 newsletter from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs covers community opposition to Sea-Tac Airport's third runway expansion, including a packed public hearing on wetlands destruction, debates over proposed changes to flight corridors to reduce noise impacts, and a major study finding that retrofitting Highline School District classrooms to acceptable noise levels would cost $178 million — far exceeding the Port of Seattle's $50 million mitigation budget. The newsletter highlights growing tensions between the Port, local residents, and government agencies over the environmental, financial, and quality-of-life impacts of airport expansion.

This 1999 newsletter from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs covers major controversies surrounding Sea-Tac Airport's proposed third runway, including a 31% cost jump bringing construction estimates to $773 million, unresolved wetlands permits requiring the filling of 18+ acres of wetlands and 3,000 linear feet of streams, and disputes over water rights and environmental impacts on local creeks. The newsletter also reports on related issues including a rejected conveyor-belt proposal to transport runway fill, a $500,000 state-funded aquifer study, and separate local disputes over float planes on Seattle's waterfront and helicopter leases at Boeing Field.