TagThird Runway(1092)

A 2003 Seattle Times investigation revealed a campaign-finance scandal in Des Moines, WA, where Mayor Don Wasson, businessman Hank Hopkins, and political consultant Tom Hujar allegedly concealed $49,000 in unreported spending to influence the November 2001 City Council elections. The goal was to elect council members who would reduce the city's opposition to a proposed third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. State Public Disclosure Commission investigators charged Wasson and Hopkins with violating campaign-finance disclosure laws, with all three men blaming each other for the scheme.

Des Moines Mayor Don Wasson was charged by Washington State's Public Disclosure Commission with concealing $49,000 in illegal campaign contributions from local businessman Hank Hopkins, who stood to profit from a third-runway construction contract at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. The funds allegedly helped elect three pro-runway City Council members in 2001, after which Wasson was named mayor and the council voted to cut the city's $150,000 funding to the anti-runway Airport Communities Coalition. Wasson denied the charges, but investigators confronted him with an endorsed check he had initially claimed not to have received.

On December 13, 2002, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issued a federal permit allowing the Port of Seattle to build a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport as part of its Master Plan Update. The project includes an 8,500-foot runway, two Runway Safety Areas, and related construction that will permanently impact nearly 20 acres of wetlands and up to 980 linear feet of Miller Creek. After weighing input from government agencies and the public, the Corps determined the project was not contrary to the public interest and approved the permit.

A December 2002 letter to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers raises environmental and public health concerns about the Sea-Tac Airport Third Runway project, arguing that construction pollution, ASARCO-contaminated fill material, and increased de-icing fluid use may be harming Puget Sound marine life, including orca populations. The author also warns of collision risks between barges transporting runway fill material and large tankers crossing the same waters. The letter calls for denial of the third runway permit, citing the absence of any cumulative air pollution or health hazard analysis and questioning the project's necessity given declining air and marine cargo traffic.

This document is an exhibit list from a legal proceeding involving the Port of Seattle, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and other parties regarding environmental issues related to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (Sea-Tac). The exhibits cover topics such as groundwater contamination, stormwater management, fill materials used during Third Runway construction, and water quality monitoring in nearby Miller and Des Moines Creeks. Documents span from the early 1990s through 2001 and include internal memos, consultant reports, regulatory correspondence, and interrogatory responses, with each exhibit assigned an admissibility status such as 'Admitted by Stipulation' or 'Admitted for a Limited Purpose.'

AR028014. Port of Seattle biological assessment map depicting wetland and stream impacts in the Miller Creek Basin related to the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport Third Runway project. Shows delineated wetlands verified by Army Corps of Engineers (ACOE), wetlands not verified by ACOE, creeks, boundary of acquisition area, third runway and interconnecting taxiways, third runway embankment and

This document is a transcript of legal proceedings in which attorneys and a hearing officer debate the admissibility of laboratory toxicity study documents related to water quality testing. An expert witness, Dr. Stubblefield, confirms familiarity with the range-finding WERS (Water Effect Ratio) studies, while opposing counsel raises hearsay objections. The hearing officer ultimately allows certain documents for background reference only, not as proof of the facts they contain.

Map (AR 028386, PARA 0013189) showing potential mitigation sites evaluated in the Miller Creek and Des Moines Creek watersheds near Sea-Tac Airport. Displays numbered mitigation sites greater than 10 acres, airport runways (present and proposed 3rd runway), borrow/warehouse/parking/SABA areas, watershed boundaries, Puget Sound shoreline, Burien, Normandy Park, SeaTac, Angle Lake, Bow Lake, Burien Lake, Lake