Seattle gets OK to fill wetlands for third runway; opponents file suit SEATTLE (AP) =97 A third runway for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport=20 inched a little closer to reality when the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers=20 issued a key permit. District engineer Col. Ralph Graves signed a permit=20 that will allow the Port of Seattle to permanently fill 19.62 acres of=20 wetlands for the construction of the 8,500-foot runway. Third runway=20 opponents responded by filing suit in federal court and requesting a court= =20 order to prevent the port from beginning the fill. "I made this decision=20 fully conscious of its impact," Graves told a news conference Friday. "I've= =20 become intimately familiar with the issues and concerns associated with the= =20 third runway project." Graves said he realizes many people living near the= =20 airport are vehemently opposed to a third runway. "I've read the comments=20 and considered the issues raised by the community, by agencies and the=20 port," he said. "After considering all the factors, I determined that a=20 permit was in the overall public interest." In return for its favorable decision, the corps will require mitigation by= =20 the port, including restoring 12 acres of wetlands on the construction=20 site, enhancing 78 acres of wetlands or buffer areas and preserving 2=20 acres. The corps also will require the port to create 30 acres of wetlands= =20 near Auburn and enhance another 35 acres of wetlands and buffer areas. The= =20 wetlands approval is the second of two major permits needed before the=20 runway, which has been sought for the past 15 years, can be completed. A court trial is pending over another vital permit, which was issued by the= =20 state. It contains several stringent conditions. The Port of Seattle hailed= =20 Friday's decision, while the Airport Communities Coalition, a group opposed= =20 to the new runway, filed suit and sought a preliminary injunction in U.S.=20 District Court. The suit challenges the permit; opponents also are asking=20 the court to block the port from moving more dirt. "I didn't think it was a= =20 very good decision even though it took four years to make it," said Stuart= =20 Creighton, chairman of the opponents' coalition. "It was not very well=20 thought out." Creighton said bringing in 20 million to 25 million cubic yards of fill=20 dirt for the third runway was "totally unacceptable. "The basic issue is=20 that we do not believe that the Army Corps of Engineers did a complete job= =20 in analyzing the need for a third runway or in providing us with the=20 environmental protections out here that we need in a project of this=20 magnitude," he said. Gina Marie Lindsey, Sea-Tac Airport's director for the= =20 past nine years, called the permit decision good news. "Obviously, we're=20 very delighted that an arduous and complicated process has reached a=20 successful conclusion," she said. "This is a very important milestone for=20 this project." Graves said all information and analysis available indicated= =20 the port's plan to build a third runway was "the least damaging practicable= =20 alternative" and "is not contrary to public interest." Airport officials=20 have argued for more than a decade that another runway is needed to reduce= =20 flight delays and maintain safe clearance between approaching planes in bad= =20 weather. Opponents say a new runway would contaminate nearby streams and water=20 supplies and is not needed because of recent declines in air traffic. The=20 port has spent more than $320 million on the runway, buying 388 homes and=20 other properties and hauling about 5 million cubic yards of fill onto the=20 site just west of the existing runways. Another 15 million cubic yards of=20 fill must be moved to the site to complete the new runway. Initially, port= =20 officials planned to complete the runway by 2006. Now, "I think the best=20 case you're looking at is late '07, probably '08," Lindsey said. Graves=20 said he had no idea when the third runway would be built. "This is one of=20 the many permits the port has to get to construct," he said. Creighton said= =20 he doesn't see a third runway ever being built. The owner of Roger's Trinbago Site: Roj (Roger James) *************************************************** escape email mailto:ejames@escape.ca Trinbago site: http://www.tntisland.com CBC Website http://www.tntisland.com/caribbeanbrassconnection/ The Trinbago Site of the Week: (TnT News) http://www.tntmirror.com/ (TnT News) courtesy of Roj Trinbago Website & TnT Web Directory Roj's Trinbago Website: http://www.tntisland.com TnT Web Directory: http://search.co.tt *********************************************************