Port of Seattle
Submitted by Des Moines City Council Member JC Harris, on behalf of SeaTac Noise Info Contact info for STNI
The Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP) is a series of 31 construction projects on existing airport property. Unless you visit the airport, you probably won't notice it's already been going on for a long time. You probably don't know it was announced in 2012, just four years after the Third Runway opened. Or that it will increase operations by at least as much. However, last Friday, all were approved by the FAA in a single 23-page Record of Decision.
You may have also heard about a Part 150 Study concerning 'noise'. If you attend one of the upcoming Port of Seattle Workshops, you will hear a lot of information. But the practical effect is really just who is, or is not, eligible for federal sound insulation grants from now until 2032. The answer: only about 50 more homes.
Understanding the Problem
Sea-Tac Airport is a factory. It may not look like one, but that's what it is. By several measures, it is the largest polluter in King County.
All factories degrade the immediate surrounding areas, while benefiting communities further away. Whether the problems are water, air, crime, education, traffic, or noise, that is what factories do. And over time, that dynamic only increases.
The biggest fail of Sea-Tac, and all airports, is that, since the 1970's they have not been regulated like other factories. Not in terms of pollution. Not in terms of noise.
As an industrial engineer from Detroit, I recognized this immediately when I moved here. My job involved analyzing factory systems. In 2016 I helped found Sea-Tac Noise Info (STNI) to address these issues through that lens.
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There have been multiple attempts to address these community impacts. It's hard to hear, but a major reason they generally fail is not the FAA or the Port of Seattle. It is us, including the people you elect.
A certain number of residents will always say "Don't like it, move!" Which makes it about individuals rather than community impacts: health, education, city services.
Despite that, every few years a small number of dedicated community members try to address this. But the issues are too technical and become more so each year.
That sounds unappreciative, but imagine only assembling a water commission every time a major pipe breaks. That is what we've done regarding airports for decades. We react. We don't plan.
The only reason we have clean, reliable water is because we elect ongoing bodies backed by ongoing expertise. That's why we haven't made progress on airport issues—we've had neither.
At the last Burien City Council meeting, elected officials heard complaints about the airport's tree cutting at a local park. Like the SAMP, the program is no secret. It's been planned for many years and was something their city could have negotiated a long time ago. But council members and administrators come and go and they simply lacked awareness.
Now multiply that lack of awareness and engagement by a thousand. That is the SAMP.
One sided information
Today, unless you go to STNI, the Port of Seattle is likely your only source of information. Frankly, if you tell people to show up for a Port event rather than subscribing to STNI, you may be making things worse.
That sounds snippy. But, when residents show up to a Port of Seattle event, they are essentially getting information from a developer on a real-estate project. It sounds official because it comes from a quasi-government agency. But it is just as biased.
Sadly, many people attend these events and walk away assuming that is all there is to the story.
Misinformation
Another thing holding us back is misinformation. For example, you may have heard that a 'solution' would be building a second airport. In 2012, airport planners made clear that even if one were built, it would make no difference to Sea-Tac expansion plans. That is why they embarked on the SAMP.
When everyone, especially those elected, engage in such ongoing and flagrant misinformation, it prevents the real relief that was always available.
Now what?
We have detailed explainers on everything concerning the SAMP and Part 150 at STNI.info, and we encourage you to subscribe. But the upshot is that your lived experience over the next decade will be much as it is now; just more of it. Slowly and steadily, there will be more flights, especially during periods where now there are gaps. Those are the opportunities for more passengers and cargo to Asia - the Port's key strategic focus.
With each flight comes that much more noise and pollution, and with them, poorer public health. Each year, the links between aircraft noise and pollution become more direct: sleep, cardiac, neurological—particularly for seniors, children, and expecting mothers.
The impacts will also increase for your city, because the airport has always been an invisible (but loud) blanket over all our cities' struggles to thrive.
There is a sixty-day appeal process. We are not confident that any airport cities will act. If so, you'd likely have heard objections by now. Early next year, the Port will submit a State version for environmental review. A few cities have expressed more interest in challenging that.
Now, the good news
We are not holding our breath. Despite all the above, there are many improvements we are working on right now, including:
- The area around Sea-Tac will soon have three aviation-specific air quality monitoring sites, making our communities the nexus for all such research. This is the key to eventually regulating aviation noise and pollution as it should be.
- We are working with the Port on an update program for existing sound insulation systems and legislation to expand the program to more.
- We are also working on legislation to expand the Port's community grant programs and address a much wider range of airport-related impacts both for public health and the environment.
Because nothing ever prevented our communities from achieving significant relief. The only real limit has been relying only on the Port of Seattle for information.
Ultimately, your cities will need to step up and manage airport impacts professionally -- as we manage other systems critical to residents' well-being.
Until then, STNI will continue to advocate for airport communities and provide complete, trustworthy information; not merely one side of the story.
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