Pierce County adopts anti-airport resolution. Here’s what the Council wants to happen
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New airport in Pierce County?
Two sites in Pierce County, south of Tacoma, will be analyzed as a site for new passenger, cargo flight operations by 2040 to accommodate Sea-Tac overflow.
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The Pierce County Council has formally requested that two rural sites be removed from consideration for Washington’s next major airport.
In a unanimous resolution Tuesday, county lawmakers also called upon the state Legislature to extend a June deadline for the Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission to make a recommendation about which of three greenfield sites under consideration is preferred to house a new two-runway facility.
“I’m certain there are other ways to grapple with our transportation challenges without ruining the rural environment,” Council Chair Ryan Mello said.
The resolution comes amid a controversial debate about the future of commercial aviation in the state and prospects that a new airport could land in rural Pierce or Thurston County to solve a projected shortfall in flight capacity.
The CACC has been searching since 2019 for a site to construct an airport, as directed by the Legislature, and in September the planning group narrowed options to three six-mile-diameter locations around Graham, Roy and East Olympia. The possibility of a new aviation facility in those areas has prompted a backlash from residents, tribal groups, local governments, environmentalists and others.
In its resolution, the Council reaffirms objections it made in an October letter to the CACC, including that the two sites under review in the county lack necessary infrastructure and that an airport would threaten groundwater, critical species, resident safety and military operations at Joint Base Lewis-McChord.
The resolution asks that state lawmakers ensure any site recommended by the CACC has been thoroughly reviewed for air-space adequacy, costs and environmental and logistical impacts. Echoing concerns of a bipartisan bill introduced late Monday, the resolution criticizes “inadequate” public engagement in the site-selection process.
The bill, sponsored by Reps. Jake Fey, D-Tacoma, Tom Dent, R-Moses Lake, and 10 other legislators, proposes to immediately replace the CACC with a working group and restart and broaden the site-review process with more criteria.
In a late amendment, the county’s resolution requested that state lawmakers adopt legislation “substantially similar” to the bill.
Council member Amy Cruver, whose district encompasses the two Pierce County greenfield sites under review, noted that the effort to oppose an airport has been grassroots and recalled feeling moved during an October town hall in Graham.
It was there where Cruver said she saw people “come to the rescue of their property, of their lifestyles, of their hard work.”
“That has gone through and to culminate where we are today,” she said. “And I’m very pleased that we are able to have this resolution ... that it can be given to the CACC and make sure that we are heard.”
This story was originally published February 8, 2023 at 5:00 AM.
