SEATTLE—King County Superior Court Judge Robert H. Alsdorf on Friday dismissed a number of the legal claims made by the Airport Communities Coalition against the Puget Sound Regional Council regarding the Council's decision last July to include planning for the proposed Sea-Tac third runway in the region's Metropolitan Transportation Plan.
In all, Judge Alsdorf dismissed three claims by the plaintiff ACC against the Regional Council, and also denied the ACC's request for a summary judgment against the Council based on new long-range forecasts for air traffic at Sea-Tac that have come out since the Regional Council's action on July 11, 1996.
David Bricklin, attorney for the Regional Council, characterized Judge Alsdorf's rulings as significant. "Judge Alsdorf denied the plaintiff's motion, which in essence argued that the new forecasts meant that the whole process used by the PSRC to arrive at its decision was invalid and should start over," Bricklin said.
In addition, Bricklin noted that the three ACC claims against the PSRC that Judge Alsdorf dismissed also were attacks on the Regional Council's decision-making process. One claim alleged breach of contract, a second alleged breach of agreement to arbitrate, and the third was a claim for "promissory estoppel," alleging that the Regional Council "promised it would not approve a third runway at Sea-Tac Airport unless and until it was satisfied that the existing noise problems had been sufficiently redressed."
Those claims revolved in large measure around the Council's actions regarding the findings of the Expert Arbitration Panel, which looked at noise issues related to Sea-Tac Airport and ultimately concluded that the Port of Seattle could have done more to reduce noise.
The Council utilized the Expert Panel's findings, including many of the Panel recommendations on how noise could be reduced as part of the amendment to add plans for Sea-Tac expansion to the Metropolitan Transportation Plan (MTP). Inclusion of planning for the third runway in the MTP was a necessary first step for the Port of Seattle to proceed with the project.
Judge Alsdorf also denied the Regional Council's request to have all claims by the ACC against the Regional Council thrown out on the basis that the ACC had waited too long after the Council's action to file the case.
Friday's hearing was the first major court action regarding the case filed by the ACC against the Regional Council and Port of Seattle. The actual trial date has been set for January 1998.