Port's move invites distrust

Friday, February 21, 2003

SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER EDITORIAL BOARD

The Port of Seattle invites further controversy over the proposed third runway by pulling an apparent legislative end run around an environmental protection ruling on fill-dirt contamination at Sea-Tac Airport.

The state Pollution Control Hearing Board ruled that the port's proposed runoff testing protocol was inadequate because the test wouldn't detect contaminants at a sufficiently low level, even though the state Department of Ecology approved the test.

The port asked the board to reconsider, and then abandoned that request in favor of a court appeal. That litigation is unresolved. So, citing the need to avoid further construction delays, the port has asked the Legislature to change the law. If the legislation passes, the Pollution Control Hearing Board would in effect be bound to accept the testing standard it initially rejected.

The state DOE filed its own appeal of the board's fill test ruling, questioning not the merit of the more stringent standard but its enforceability. According to the DOE, it may be impossible to find fill dirt in this region clean enough to meet the Pollution Control Hearing Board's standard.

We'll not attempt here to pass judgment on which standard or testing approach is higher or more scientifically sound. We do presume to pass judgment, however, on the port trying to get the Legislature to intervene. The port wants to substitute another standard rather than meet this one.

This newspaper long has supported the construction of a third runway, but also recognizes that this is a major project with a potentially broad impact on the environment, including wetlands and nearby streams. If the port has a compelling case for rejecting the higher standard, it should make that case to the public and to the courts, and not use the Legislature to codify a lower one.

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