Jan. 12--Brett Fish says he has documented incidents of pollution flowing into Miller Creek near his Normandy Park property.
For years, the Port of Seattle has promised that construction of a massive third runway at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport wouldn't hurt surrounding streams and would actually be a boon to the environment.
But since October, a string of oversights, accidents and intentional actions at the airport has allowed millions of gallons of muddy, oily or antifreeze-laden water to flow into nearby streams, including one occupied by spawning salmon, the state Department of Ecology said Tuesday.
The state has ordered the Port to give a detailed accounting of the system in place to control stormwater and of the measures it will take to prevent further problems.
Those who have been fighting the runway project say this is the sort of problem they have been warning about. It's particularly frustrating, they say, because they had recently tried to settle differences with the Port and endorsed its permit for stormwater runoff at the airport.
"The feedback I'm getting from the community is folks are pretty upset," said Greg Wingard, an environmental consultant for the Regional Coalition on Airport Affairs, a citizens group. "They feel like they've put a fairly substantial effort into laying down the sword and picking up the plowshare, and it doesn't seem to be paying off."
The massive third-runway project, with a price tag now at $1.1 billion, is estimated to be finished in late 2008.
Its main contractor, TTI Constructors, could not be reached Wednesday. But the Port described the incidents as a setback for a project with a good record of handling 125 million gallons of stormwater since construction began in 2003.
"When we have these kind of incidents, I think they have every right to express concern about how we are doing," said Michael Feldman, Sea-Tac's deputy managing director. "I would say for a project of this magnitude that we have been doing a pretty good job."
In its Tuesday order to the Port, the Ecology Department cited several incidents its inspector found. Among the most serious:
--About 1.5 million gallons of dirty water from the construction site spilled into Walker Creek the night of Nov. 3, while salmon were spawning, when a plug in a pipe failed.
--About 2.5 million gallons of water laden with oil and antifreeze from airport operations poured into the headwaters of Des Moines Creek on Nov. 26 after a valve was left shut. That was not at the third runway site. The Port says it has since installed a fail-safe lock on the valve.
--An employee for a contractor working on the third runway was caught Dec. 15 filling a stormwater pond with water used to wash dirt and oil from vehicles. That kind of water is supposed to go to a treatment facility. The worker has been taken off the job, the Port said.
The Ecology Department's order does not include any fines, but it demands the Port submit a detailed account of the stormwater system and evaluate how it runs and maintains it. The Port's Feldman said it is already working on it.
Ecology could still issue a fine for the latest incidents, said department spokesman Larry Altose.
"Until this fall, we probably would have said the project had by and large been running quite well," Altose said. "This fall, we started seeing a larger number of violations, and that's what prompted us to write this order."
This is the third time the Port and its contractors have been in trouble for mishandling stormwater at the third-runway project.
In 2004, the Ecology Department fined the Port and TTI Constructors $15,000 for not properly responding to a broken stormwater pipe and for not properly washing dirt from the wheels of construction trucks. In October, it issued a $9,000 fine after muddy water spilled from a pipe into Miller Creek.
Brett Fish, the president of Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion, said he sees the department's latest action as further support for his longtime contention that the third runway is hurting Miller Creek, which flows past property he owns in Normandy Park.
Wednesday, Fish stood at the edge of a bridge across Miller Creek, where the rushing water was brown from recent heavy rain. The Port has done some work that will benefit the creek, Fish conceded. But the runway has taken a toll, he added
Evidence of the Port's work was everywhere.
Bare sticks of willows poked from the edge of the stream, put there to provide shade and control erosion. A black pipe poked from the bank, from what appeared to be a huge man-made stormwater-holding pond.
Nearby, what was once a farm field is now a flooded wetland and littered with tiny saplings marked by brightly colored tags. The Port has promised to plant 168,000 plants at the site.
In the distance is a huge mound of dirt and a huge concrete retaining wall, all part of the third runway.
Fish said he has repeatedly videotaped surges of muddy water filling the stream, even without a rainstorm. He blames the runway project, though the Ecology Department has disagreed in the past.
"Ecology is taking what appears to be a strong stand, finally," he said.
