Sea-Tac's New Water-Pollution Permit Plainly Unlawful,
Citizens' Groups Tell Pollution Control Hearings Board

Two citizens' groups have told the Pollution Control Hearings Board that the recently-issued water-pollution permit for Sea-Tac Airport is plainly illegal. They have asked the Board to make a finding to that effect as a matter of law, before the hearing scheduled for mid-July.

In a joint motion for partial summary judgement filed on April 26, Citizens Against Sea-Tac Expansion (C.A.S.E.) & Puget Soundkeeper Alliance say that the permit is invalid because it allows discharge of polluted water from the Airport into Puget Sound without requiring pre-discharge treatment by all known, available, and reasonable methods of preventing, controlling, and treating pollution (“AKART”). State law requires that all discharges into surface waters must be subject to AKART.

The permit, issued by the Department of Ecology in September 2003, allows the Airport to discharge water contaminated with more than 100,000 gallons of de-icing materials each year, without going through secondary treatment. De-icing materials, largely composed of glycols, are notoriously harmful to water-dwelling organisms. Primary treatment does not remove glycols, though it removes many other contaminants.

The two groups point out that the Port itself recommended secondary treatment of these discharges, rather than sending them untreated into the Sound. According to testimony developed during pre-hearing discovery, King County has plenty of capacity in its treatment works to provide secondary treatment to these discharges. Ecology has already ruled that the Airport must construct a pipeline for its discharges to a near-by King County treatment works.

The permit was issued under the provisions of sec. 402 of the federal Clean Water Act, & is sometimes referred to as a “402 permit”, or as an “NPDES permit”. “NPDES” stands for “National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System”.

C.A.S.E. is represented in the appeal by Smith & Lowney (Rick Poulin, counsel). Puget Soundkeeper Alliance is represented by Gendler & Mann, with David S. Mann being the lead attorney.

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