TagRCAA(188)

The Port of Seattle filed a Notice of Appeal against the Washington State Department of Ecology challenging the terms of a 2003 water discharge permit issued for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac). The permit, which governs industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff from airport operations and construction activities, was contested by the Port as imposing undue burdens without corresponding environmental benefits. Over the following six years, the Port faced more than $150 million in projected costs to implement water quality and stormwater control measures under the permit's requirements.

This is a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) waste discharge permit issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology to the Port of Seattle for SeaTac International Airport, originally effective October 1, 2003. The permit regulates the discharge of industrial wastewater and stormwater into receiving waters including Puget Sound, Des Moines Creek, Miller Creek, Walker Creek, and other local waterways. It sets effluent limits, monitoring requirements, and operational standards for the airport's Industrial Wastewater System to protect water quality in the surrounding region.

Puget Soundkeeper Alliance filed a legal appeal challenging an environmental permit issued to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) by the Washington Department of Ecology in September 2003. The group argued that the airport's National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit was unlawful because it failed to adequately regulate the discharge of harmful pollutants, including BOD, COD, and toxic substances, into Puget Sound. Key concerns included an overly lenient compliance schedule, the improper approval of a pollution mixing zone, and inadequate monitoring requirements under the federal Clean Water Act and Washington State regulations.

This is a National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water discharge permit issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology to the Port of Seattle for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, effective October 1, 2003 through September 4, 2008. The permit governs how the airport is authorized to discharge industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff into surrounding water bodies, including Puget Sound, Des Moines Creek, Miller Creek, and Walker Creek. It sets out special conditions covering discharge limitations, monitoring requirements, toxicity testing, and operations and maintenance standards to protect water quality in the region.

Environmental groups challenged the validity of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's wastewater discharge permit, arguing that it failed to require the Port of Seattle to use all known and reasonable methods to treat pollution from aircraft deicing fluids. The permit allowed largely untreated industrial wastewater containing high levels of biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) from glycol-based deicing chemicals to be discharged into Puget Sound, despite the Port's own recommendation for full biological treatment. The groups sought a ruling to invalidate the permit and force regulators to reissue it in compliance with state and federal environmental law.

This September 2003 report presents an update to the FAR Part 150 Noise Exposure Maps for Snohomish County Airport (Paine Field) near Everett, Washington, prepared by Barnard Dunkelberg & Company. It covers airport inventory, aircraft operations forecasts, and the development of noise contours to map areas affected by aircraft noise. The study was conducted with input from a Study Advisory Committee and involved formal public consultation processes.

The Highline Wetlands Aerial Photo Album, compiled in September 2003, presents a collection of aerial photographs documenting wetlands, lakes, and waterways in the Sea-Tac Airport area of Washington State. The album covers locations including Miller Creek, Walker Creek, Lake Burien, Angle Lake, and other water resources affected by the proposed Third Runway construction at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. An accompanying map illustrates the runway's projected impact on local water resources, identifying proposed fill areas and the third runway site relative to surrounding communities such as Burien, Normandy Park, and Des Moines.

This NASA technical report investigates the mathematical relationship between the area enclosed by aircraft noise contour maps and the noise levels measured at standard certification points around an airport. Written by researcher Clemans A. Powell at NASA Langley Research Center in 2003, the study aims to help aviation planners and policymakers better understand how noise certification data can be used to predict the geographic extent of noise impact around airports like Sea-Tac.

The Airport Communities Coalition (ACC) asked a federal court to reconsider its ruling that allowed the Army Corps of Engineers to issue a wetlands fill permit for a Port of Seattle project. ACC argued the court overlooked a December 2001 Washington State Pollution Control Hearings Board order that effectively blocked the required water quality certification within the legally allowed one-year window, which under the Clean Water Act should have prevented the permit from being granted.

In September 2003, the Port of Seattle Commission considered authorizing a $3.69 million program to sound-insulate 98 single-family homes near Sea-Tac Airport that fell within the projected 2010 65 DNL noise contour and were built before local noise codes took effect. The project, stemming from a 1997 Environmental Impact Statement related to the airport's third runway, aimed to reduce interior noise levels by at least 5 decibels in eligible homes in Des Moines and unincorporated King County. Funding was to come primarily from federal Airport Improvement Program grants (80%), with the remainder drawn from the Airport Development Fund, and homeowners were required to grant the Port an avigation easement in exchange for the insulation work.