July 18 Airport Forum Offered Residents Rare Chance for Direct Questions

About 40 people attended a community forum Saturday July 18 on Seatac Airport, including the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS). This was a rare opportunity where residents could ask elected officials questions and receive direct answers. It was held at the Highline College campus in Des Moines, Washington.

The event was organized by U.S. Rep. Adam Smith. In addition to Mr. Smith, other speakers included Washington State Sen. Tina Orwall, and Port of Seattle Commissioner Ryan Calkins. Laura Schladetzky from Smith’s office moderated the discussion.

Unlike most public hearings, the meeting was built around a two-way conversation. After 15 minutes of introductory comments from the three elected officials, eight residents were able to ask questions during roughly 45 minutes of Q&A. The time went very fast and many attendees left hoping for additional similar Q&A forums. 

Congressman Smith opened by discussing the challenges with the airport, including air and noise pollution. He grew up near the airport, he has worked on airport-related issues for over 30 years, and while he says there have been some wins, there is still a lot left to do to mitigate and also reduce the impacts of the airport on the nearby communities. 

In her opening remarks, State Senator Orwall shared that one of her children had suffered with asthma, and that living near the airport likely contributed to the ailment. She relayed that airport communities have a 57% higher incidence of asthma than the rest of King County. She noted that the conversation around airport impacts has expanded beyond noise to include concerns about airborne particulate matter and overall air quality.

Commissioner Calkins stated that there is some progress on shared concerns, Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) is a way to reduce air emissions and particulates, Seatac is a leader in SAF, and that in order to reduce community impacts the airport is trying to make operational changes as well as implement effective long term policies. 

The first public speaker, a Redondo resident, described what she said was a black oily residue collecting on rooftops and vehicles since about 2020, raising questions about possible environmental impacts. According to several attendees, this was a new development.

Residents and community advocates raised concerns about aircraft noise, air quality, environmental impacts, school mitigation projects, and Port-funded noise mitigation packages.

Notable answers from panelist: Ms. Orwall mentioned SAF is a nice idea, but is years away from having  much of an impact on emissions or particulates because the supply of the fuel is very limited. Mr. Smith stated the importance of getting additional noise metrics besides the 65 dNL number that was created in 1979. This is something he’s been working on as a part of FAA bills.

Smith said he remains committed to pursuing additional federal funding for airport-related mitigation efforts.

Throughout the discussion, Calkins repeatedly encouraged residents to contact his office directly with additional questions. 

One point of frustration involved the RSVP process. Attendees had been asked to submit questions in advance, but those questions were generally not addressed during the forum, leaving some wondering why they had been requested.

Following the meeting, many attendees stayed another 20 minutes to continue conversations with one another and with the elected officials.

Congressman Smith’s office has posted the video, available here. The audio is faint, especially at the beginning, but the closed captioning is readable.