Port of Seattle Announces Corrective Actions to Further Protect Environment

- Thorough review of environmental and contracting practices will improve processes -

Following several storm water and waste water environmental incidents last fall, the Port of Seattle commission has directed staff to improve training, oversight, and compliance of all construction projects at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

The action was announced by Port Commission President Pat Davis last week in response to an action from the Washington State Department of Ecology. The Port and a contractor, TTI, received an order of corrective action and an $81,000 penalty from the DOE following a series of storm water releases on the third runway project. Today, an additional $20,000 fine was levied for an Industrial Waste System (IWS) failure during the same time frame.

"The Port made several changes immediately following the IWS water release to ensure there was no repeat failure, including staffing adjustments, procedural reviews and adjustments, and physical improvements to the site," said Davis, adding that the Port Commission has already asked staff to intensify prevention, oversight, training, and compliance on all Port projects.

Davis said the third runway project has the most stringent environmental standards of any project in the state. The most difficult issue to deal with is storm water runoff and waste water releases, she noted. A special set of management practices has been developed specifically for the purpose of erosion control.

"It is very disappointing to have a strong track record of environmental management marred by the incidents that occurred last fall," Davis said. "During the last several weeks of heavy rains, our storm water program and Industrial Waste System have encountered no problems, demonstrating that the corrective actions we took a few months ago are working."

Every inch of rain on airport property produces eight million gallons of runoff water that needs treatment. In just the last week, the Port of Seattle's storm water system successfully treated more than 50 million gallons of runoff water.

The Port's environmental team works closely with the on-site Department of Ecology inspector. In fact, the incidents cited in the violations were reported to the Ecology inspector by Port staff. In response to last week's order, the Port will provide Ecology with an updated detailed description of the storm water control and treatment system, as well as an evaluation of its operations and training program.

Steps being taken include:

Enhanced on-site training with contractors and vendors that will stress the environmental sensitivity of the area, as well as each worker's individual responsibility to meet the stringent environmental regulations.

Closer oversight of contractors to ensure they understand the seriousness of each incident, as well as development of a plan to prevent further instances.

A legal review of possible contract changes that would allow contractors to be billed for the cost of the Port's response to an incident. While existing agreements require the contractor to pay any fines levied against the Port, the cost of actually responding to an incident could be even greater.

More intense oversight by Port staff. For example, the storm water staff will be automatically notified, 24 hours a day, every time an additional half-inch of rain falls on the runway project.