TagMiller Creek(260)

Memorandum for Record (MFR) dated 24 April 2001 from CENWS-OD-RG summarizing telephone conversations with Elizabeth Leavitt and Jim Kelley (Port of Seattle consultants) on 9-10 April 2001 regarding the Army Corps of Engineers’ review of the Port’s draft responses to letters from Azous and Sheldon concerning the Third Runway project at Sea-Tac Airport. Corps comments

This April 2001 memorandum summarizes a meeting between Corps of Engineers staff and Port of Seattle representatives (Elizabeth Leavitt and Jim Kelley) regarding the Port's submission of additional information related to the Third Runway project at Sea-Tac Airport. The parties discussed an approach to assessing cumulative environmental impacts, including the use of 1930s aerial photos and historical soil surveys to estimate wetland impacts from past airport construction. Several technical reports and construction drawings related to retaining wall designs along Miller Creek were also submitted for review.

Handwritten meeting notes dated 3-22-01 (AR018222–AR018224), participants Ann Kenny, Kelly Whiting, Katie Walters, at SKW MIG/WCED. Notes cover stormwater pond analysis including Pond D (discharge not modelled, serves SDWIB, 0.2 cfs infiltration facility capacity, seasonal groundwater at 336 ft, intercepts hydrology to wetland), Pond F (discharges to Walker Creek via riprap outfall, 2-yr flow 1.2

Handwritten meeting notes dated 3-22-01 (AR 018495–018497, Exhibit 192) from a meeting involving Kelly Whiting, Katie Walters, and others (SKW MIG at WLRD). Notes cover Pond D (discharge not modelled, meets flow standards, indirect impacts to wetlands, SDW1B, seasonal groundwater at 336 ft, infiltration facility 0.2 cfs), Pond F (discharges to Walker Creek via riprap

Transmittal form dated March 19, 2001 from Parametrix, Inc. (James C. Kelley) to Gail Terzi and Muffy Walker, US Army Corps of Engineers Regulatory Branch, for Port Of Seattle project number 556-2912-01(03A), POS-Master Plan Update. Transmits responses to comments by Amanda Azous and Dyanne Sheldon, map and aerial photographs of a stream relocation project on

Memorandum dated March 9, 2001 from Dave Garland, Washington Department of Ecology NWRO Water Quality Nonpoint Unit, to Kevin Fitzpatrick and Ann Kenny, reviewing Earth Tech’s December 2000 ‘Sea-Tac Airport Master Plan Update Low Streamflow Analysis’ (Exhibit 2099, AR 033695–033697). The memo evaluates HSPF streamflow modeling for Miller Creek, Walker Creek, and Des Moines Creek

Memorandum dated March 9, 2001, from Dave Garland, Ecology NWRO Water Quality Nonpoint Unit, to Kevin Fitzpatrick and Ann Kenny, reviewing the Earth Tech December 2000 report ‘Sea-Tac Airport Master Plan Update Low Streamflow Analysis.’ The memo evaluates HSPF streamflow modeling and supplemental analyses for Miller Creek, Walker Creek, and Des Moines Creek in connection

Essential Fish Habitat (EFH) Assessment prepared by Parametrix, Inc. for the Federal Aviation Administration and Port Of Seattle for Master Plan Update Improvements at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (STIA), March 2001. Document AR049873 (project 556-2912-001) evaluates Pacific Coast salmon EFH — Chinook, Coho, and Puget Sound Pink salmon — in Miller Creek Basin, Des Moines Creek

A February 2001 letter from Azous Environmental Sciences, submitted on behalf of the Airport Communities Coalition, critiques the Port of Seattle's environmental mitigation plan for the proposed third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The letter argues that key analyses of wetland functions, permanent and temporary wetland area losses, and cumulative environmental impacts are missing or scientifically unsupported in the Port's December 2000 documents. The author concludes that federal and state agencies lack sufficient information to determine whether the project complies with the Clean Water Act or whether the proposed mitigation adequately offsets the project's adverse impacts on wetlands, streams, and fisheries.

A fisheries biologist writing on behalf of the Airport Communities Coalition argues that the Port of Seattle has not provided sufficient scientific evidence to justify a Clean Water Act Section 404 permit for its proposed third runway expansion at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The letter contends that the project would harm local streams (Miller Creek, Walker Creek, and Des Moines Creek) and their fish populations — including federally threatened Chinook salmon — through stream relocation, contaminated fill materials, and toxic stormwater runoff containing copper, zinc, and de-icing chemicals. The author concludes that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lacks an adequate scientific basis to approve the permit without additional environmental study and mitigation measures.