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On 4 September, the Department
of Ecology issued a long-delayed renewal of the basic
water pollution permit for Sea-Tac
Airport, significantly tightening the conditions that the
Airport must follow, but still deficient in critical areas.
At a closed meeting just before the issuance, Port of Seattle
representatives expressed dissatisfaction with the new
requirements, & Port staff have indicated that they
are working on an appeal. Representatives of C.A.S.E. at
that same meeting had their own list of problems & a
citizens' appeal has not been ruled out.
Citizens
Against Sea-Tac Expansion (C.A.S.E.) has followed the renewal
of the NPDES permit very closely. At the next regular C.A.S.E.
meeting, on Tuesday, October 1, Ed Abbasi, ecology engineer
in charge of the permit project, will make a 30-minute
presentation.
This will be an excellent opportunity to learn about the
permit first-hand, from the Ecology point of view. At the
September C.A.S.E. meeting, Greg Wingard, water-quality
consultant, presented his analysis of the permit. (An audiocassette
of Mr Wingard’s remarks is available from the RCAA
office.)
High on the community list is
the question of the effective start date for reaching
compliance with today's water-quality
standards. The problem with the permit as issued is that
it delays the starting date for construction for new,
state-of-the-art pollution-control equipment for years--perhaps
longer
than six years.
A critical gain for the environment
was the decision by Ecology to designate the Northwest
Ponds as "waters of
the State", subject to the same controls as other nearby
water resources, such as Gilliam, Miller, Walker, & Des
Moines Creeks. The ponds lie on the west side of the Tyee
golf course, just south of the Airport. It is likely that
the Port of Seattle will appeal this aspect of the permit,
for the Airport's discharges into the ponds routinely violate
State water-quality standards, according to consultants
working for C.A.S.E. Once in the ponds, the discharges
are mixed in with other discharges from other sources.
Until now, the Port has been able to hide some of its dirtiest
discharges in the ponds. No longer, if the designation
as "waters of the State" is rigorously applied. The
existing permit language may not be adequate, leading to
a citizen
appeal. Still under examination is the
way that the permit treats glycols, used for deicing
of planes. These are clearly
industrial pollutants that should be captured & treated
by the Industrial Wastewater System. The old practice of
allowing glycols to enter area creeks without regulation
was improper. Some aircraft require deicing 12 months a
year, so this is not just a seasonal concern. A final major area of contention
is ensuring that all stormwater discharging from the
Airport meets established
water-quality criteria, & that the discharges are tested
at the point of discharge, not after the contamination
has been mixed with other stormwater. The permit as issued
sets specific limits for only four of the 14 outfalls, & those
limits are said to be "grossly in excess of established
water quality criteria". The new permit covers not only ongoing aviation activity
at the Airport but also construction work for the runway
and other capital projects.
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