TagThird Runway(1084)

A 1992 pamphlet published by the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA) warns that the Port of Seattle's expansion plan for Sea-Tac Airport — including the addition of a third runway — poses serious health risks to surrounding communities. Citing studies reviewed by physicians at Highline Community Hospital, the brochure links increased airport activity to higher rates of birth defects, cardiovascular disease, mental illness, and dangerous levels of air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, benzene, and lead. The document concludes that when health and community costs are fully considered, Sea-Tac expansion may be neither financially feasible nor ethically justifiable.

A 1992 report from the Health Subcommittee of the Regional Coalition on Airport Affairs argues that noise from Seattle-Tacoma International Airport poses serious health risks to nearby residents, including increased rates of psychiatric illness, sleep disruption, hypertension, and adverse birth outcomes. The report also cites 1992 measurements showing classroom noise levels exceeding 85 decibels in Highline School District schools, linking airport noise to declining standardized test scores. The authors conclude that expansion of Sea-Tac Airport would significantly worsen these documented public health impacts.

A 1992 brochure from the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA) argues that the Port of Seattle broke its 1973 promises to soundproof homes affected by Sea-Tac Airport noise, noting that only 700 of 10,000 impacted homes had been insulated and no public buildings had been treated despite a recognized obligation since 1988. The brochure opposes the Port's plan to spend up to $1.2 billion on a third runway at Sea-Tac, questioning how residents can trust new commitments when past ones went unfulfilled. It calls on the Port to fulfill its existing mitigation obligations before pursuing further airport expansion.

A 1992 position statement argues that Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac) has reached its operational, economic, and environmental capacity and should be capped at a maximum of 380,000 operations per year with no third runway authorized. The document contends that noise impacts on surrounding communities are severely underestimated, that a third runway would make no operational or economic sense, and that alternatives such as demand management, use of existing regional airports, and improved transportation systems should be pursued instead.

Washington State's Engrossed Substitute House Bill 2609, passed in March 1992 and effective April 2, 1992, placed a moratorium on the construction or extension of runways of 1,000 feet or more by cities, counties, or port districts in heavily populated western Washington counties. The bill was designed to allow the state's Air Transportation Commission time to complete a comprehensive statewide air transportation strategy, with an interim report due December 1, 1992, and a final report due December 1, 1994. The legislation aimed to balance regional aviation capacity needs with environmental and growth management policies before any major new runway infrastructure was approved.

The CASE Group (Citizens' Alternatives to Sea-Tac Expansion) was formed in 1987 to oppose the Port of Seattle's plans to add a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport, gathering over 4,600 protest signatures and prompting the King County Council to pass a resolution against the expansion. The coalition organized public hearings, lobbied Port Commissioners, and circulated petitions urging state officials to reject expansion recommendations in favor of building a new regional airport away from densely populated areas. Their core argument was that alternatives to Sea-Tac expansion represented sounder economic and environmental choices for the Central and South Puget Sound region.

This document contains detailed chemical and environmental property data for Aroclor 1254, a polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) mixture, including its molecular weight, water solubility, vapor pressure, and environmental fate characteristics. It covers sorption coefficients, half-lives in various environmental compartments (water, soil, sediment, biota), and bioconcentration factors in fish and other organisms. The data is compiled from numerous scientific studies published between the 1970s and late 1980s.

This 1991 report by Sheldon and Associates, prepared for the Washington Department of Ecology, assesses wetland mitigation replacement ratios in the Puget Sound region. It evaluates compensation sites where wetlands were restored or created to offset permitted wetland losses, examining how well those sites functioned as replacements. The report provides findings, conclusions, and recommendations on compensation plan design, monitoring, and appropriate replacement ratios for regulatory guidance.

A May 1989 environmental report from Hart Crowser, Inc. details the installation of three groundwater monitoring wells (WY-1, WY-2, WY-3) near underground fuel storage tanks at the Weyerhaeuser Aviation facility at Sea-Tac International Airport. Soil samples collected during drilling showed no detectable petroleum contamination, and no groundwater was encountered at the site. The report was prepared to help Weyerhaeuser comply with the Port of Seattle's NPDES permit requirements and to assess subsurface soil conditions around the tanks.