Port Issues Another Incomplete Cost Estimate: Now $1.1 Billion “Officially", Unofficially a Whole Lot More

Port of Seattle staff now estimate that Sea-Tac Airport’s third-runway project will cost more than $1.1 billion. The new figure is an increase of about 50 percent over the last estimate, $773 million, released in June 1999, five times the original estimate of $229 million (1992).

More major cost increases are expected because the latest figures do not include the full amount of fill required for the runway embankment and other big ticket items. More...

Airport Communities Challenge “Dirty–Fill Bill” in the Supreme Court

On Friday, 6 June, attorneys for the Airport Communities Coalition filed a petition (Adobe Acrobat file 270K) in the Supreme Court of Washington, challenging the Port of Seattle's “dirty fill bill” enacted in the regular session of the Legislature.

The petition asks the Court to enter an order forbidding Tom Fitzsimmons, Director of the Department of Ecology, from relying on the legislation. More...

Port Staff to Commissioners:
"We Blame the Neighbors"

The Port staff were quick to claim at the Commission meeting on 24 June that opponents & critics of the third-runway project at Sea-Tac Airport had caused vast delays in the Port’s construction schedule with their lawsuits, thus running costs up a couple of hundred million dollars. (If you have bad news, try to change the subject.) The Commissioners acted outraged, blaming the neighbors as well. More

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When Did the Port Start Planning the Runway Project?

Maybe. Only the secret records of the Port will reveal when planning actually began. But on 24 July 1990, this is what Commissioner Pat Davis said:

“Contrary to [a recent newspaper article], the Port Commission has made no policy shift concerning any future runway at Sea-Tac, and it is not taking any preliminary steps for construction of a third runway. … While runway expansion at Sea-Tac is among the many regional options being considered by the [Puget Sound Air Transportation Committee] …, it is also important to understand that all alternatives are still on the table.”

This was in the context of Commission action on 23 July 1990 to authorize acquisition of about 50 acres of land near the south end of the Airport. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer explained the action as follows:  “The land may be needed for various aviation facilities that previously were planned for the west side of the airport—the only area where a new runway could be built”. In other words, the acquisition would facilitate runway planning.

Formal action by the Commission to authorize third-runway planning by staff did not occur until 3 November 1992. At that time, then-Commissioner Jack Block said, “It’s going to be too costly, and who’s going to pay for it?” [See article]