TagSteve Edmiston(19)

The Des Moines, Washington Airport Advisory Committee met on October 13, 2025, to discuss matters related to the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) and noise-related community concerns, including a review of citizens' complaints received over the prior month. The committee voted unanimously to recommend adding legal services to an existing Interlocal Agreement related to airport planning, and reappointed Joe Dusenbury as the city's representative to the StART (Sea-Tac Airport Roundtable) noise oversight body. The November 10, 2025 follow-up meeting agenda includes a Q&A session, further StART and SAMP updates, and continued review of community complaints and communications.

The 1997 Sea-Tac International Airport Impact Mitigation Study is an initial assessment and recommendations report prepared for several cities near Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, including Burien, Des Moines, Federal Way, Normandy Park, and Tukwila, as well as the Highline School District and Highline Community Hospital. Funded by a State of Washington grant, the study was conducted by Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum, Inc. and Raytheon Infrastructure Services, Inc. to evaluate the airport's impacts on surrounding communities. The report was submitted as part of public engagement materials related to ongoing concerns about airport noise and air pollution affecting nearby residents and institutions.

A Seattle attorney sued the Port of Seattle in September 2022 to force disclosure of a fully redacted consultant report examining public health impacts—including noise, air pollution, and higher rates of disease—on communities within 10 miles of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. Separately, the Aviation-Impacted Communities Alliance urged a federal advisory committee to support six research proposals challenging the FAA's longstanding 65 DNL noise threshold, which new survey data suggests dramatically understates the number of people harmed by aircraft noise. The issue also covers the first successful test flight of Eviation's all-electric nine-passenger Alice aircraft in Moses Lake, Washington.

This is a King County Superior Court order setting the civil case schedule for Steve Edmiston's lawsuit against the Port of Seattle, filed on September 29, 2022, with a trial date of October 2, 2023. The document outlines key procedural deadlines, including witness disclosure, discovery cutoff, and alternative dispute resolution requirements. Judge Sandra E. Widlan of Department 53 was assigned to oversee the case.

Attorney Steve Edmiston filed a lawsuit against the Port of Seattle, alleging it violated Washington's Public Records Act by heavily redacting a consultant's report (the "Ramboll Report") that assessed a 2020 public health study linking Sea-Tac Airport's noise and air pollution to serious health harms in nearby communities, including lower life expectancy and higher rates of heart disease and premature births. The Ramboll Report, commissioned by the Port days after the public health study was released and shared with the Port's CEO, was intended to evaluate the study's findings and recommendations. Edmiston is seeking court-ordered disclosure of the unredacted documents, along with attorney fees and penalties to deter future violations.

Two members of the Des Moines Ad Hoc Aviation Advisory Committee (DMAAC) resigned in July 2020, citing frustration that the Des Moines City Council voted to rejoin the SeaTac Airport Round Table (StART) without meeting any of the 13 reform criteria the committee had jointly developed with Burien. The resignees argued that rejoining StART without securing meaningful reforms was a strategic mistake, as prior participation in the forum had proven ineffective and potentially harmful to the city's long-term interests. Despite their resignations, they pledged to continue advocating for reduced airport noise and environmental protections through other organizations and legislative channels.

In November 2019, attorney Steve Edmiston and community members Sharyn Parker and others discussed conditions for re-engaging with the StART (Sea-Tac Airport Roundtable) community advisory process, which had been suspended. Key demands included collaborative agenda-setting, mandatory advance distribution of written materials, equal time for public Q&A, annual review of the facilitator, no restrictions on topics including the airport's growth and environmental reviews, and a request that the Port of Seattle pause its SAMP (Sustainable Airport Master Plan) work pending environmental review. Sharyn Parker's written responses indicated support for re-engagement only if those conditions were met, and called for the Port to conduct a new Part 150 noise study, accelerate sound mitigation, and create a 'second-chance' insulation program for affected residents.