TagWater Quality(475)

The 1994 Puget Sound Water Quality Management Plan is a regional environmental policy document adopted on May 18, 1994 by the Puget Sound Water Quality Authority, based in Olympia, Washington. It outlines strategies and guidelines for managing and protecting water quality across the Puget Sound region. Note: This document pertains to water quality management and does not contain content related to Sea-Tac Airport noise policy.

Parametrix Record of Communication (AR 026481–026483), project no. 55-2912-01, dated 3/30/94, by Linda Logan, documenting outgoing call to Kevin Fitzpatrick at Ecology (Ecolog[y]) as follow-up to 3/25/99 meeting. Topics include WER (Waste Effluent Ratio) work plan outline review by Gary Bailey and Randy Marshall, mixing zone study approach review by Norm Glen, AKART requirements at

A 1993 letter from the Port of Seattle to a Des Moines resident explains that airline deicing at Sea-Tac Airport uses only FAA-approved ethylene or propylene glycol, and that wastewater from deicing drains to the airport's treatment system before being discharged to Puget Sound — not to Miller or Des Moines Creeks. The Port acknowledged its treatment plant was not designed to handle glycols and was evaluating upgrades. A follow-up 1996 letter challenges a contradictory statement in the airport's Final Environmental Impact Statement, which claimed most deicing fluids were contained and treated by the Port's Industrial Wastewater System.

A 1993 Port of Seattle letter to Des Moines resident Barbara Stuhring explains that airplane deicing at Sea-Tac uses only FAA-approved ethylene or propylene glycol, and that wastewater from deicing drains to the airport's treatment system before being discharged to Puget Sound — not to Miller or Des Moines Creeks. A 1996 Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) later addressed public concerns about deicing fluid effects on local waterways, concluding that glycol quantities in stormwater runoff were too small and too diluted to cause lethal impacts on aquatic life in those creeks. Stuhring subsequently wrote to the Port challenging what she saw as a contradictory response in the Final EIS compared to the original 1993 letter.

This Washington State Department of Ecology report outlines stormwater erosion and sediment control requirements for large construction projects involving one or more acres of disturbed land in the Puget Sound Basin. It describes best management practices (BMPs) such as covering exposed soil, trapping sediment onsite, and protecting adjacent properties from runoff and sediment. Developers are required to create an erosion and sediment control plan and are financially responsible for its implementation.

Washington Administrative Code (WAC) Chapter 173-201A, Water Quality Standards for Surface Waters of the State of Washington, issued by the Washington State Department of Ecology under RCW 90.48. Covers introduction (WAC 173-201A-010) and definitions (WAC 173-201A-020) including AKART, background conditions, best management practices, carcinogen, chronic/acute conditions, critical condition (7Q10 flow), ecoregions, fecal coliform, hardness, mixing

A 1992 water quality study of Des Moines Creek, prepared by Parametrix, Inc. for the FAA and Port of Seattle, assessed the health of the creek during storm runoff events. The creek, which originates near Sea-Tac International Airport and flows to Puget Sound, had its aquatic ecosystem severely damaged by jet fuel spills in 1985 and 1986. The study sampled seven locations along the creek and three tributaries to identify water quality problems and determine whether stormwater pollution from airport operations was causing toxic conditions.

Academic article by Stanley V. Gregory, Frederick J. Swanson, W. Arthur McKee, and Kenneth W. Cummins published in BioScience Vol. 41 No. 8 (September 1991). Presents an ecosystem perspective of riparian zones as three-dimensional interfaces between terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems, focusing on geomorphic processes, valley floor landforms (floodplains, terraces, alluvial fans, active channels), terrestrial plant

A 1990 environmental assessment by Roy F. Weston Inc. evaluated soil and groundwater quality on an undeveloped Seattle property along the Duwamish Waterway, where Boeing was considering a 50-year lease with Seattle City Light. The study examined areas where dredged sediment from the Duwamish Waterway had been deposited in 1968 and 1985, testing for contaminants including PCBs, pentachlorophenols, PAHs, and metals. Prior sampling had found contaminant levels generally below state-regulated thresholds, and this baseline assessment was conducted to document existing conditions before any lease agreement was finalized.