Officials and volunteers from the cities of Des Moines and Burien took a rare step toward regional coordination Monday, June 8, holding a joint meeting of their airport advisory committees to discuss the proposed expansion of Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and how local communities can respond to the Port of Seattle’s ongoing environmental review process.
The meeting, held at Des Moines City Hall, served as a study session focused on the Sustainable Airport Master Plan (SAMP), a long-term blueprint for accommodating future growth at Sea-Tac Airport. The nearly hour-long discussion revealed growing concerns among members about whether airport-adjacent cities are receiving adequate benefits while bearing a disproportionate share of the environmental, traffic and noise impacts associated with the airport’s continued expansion.
Committee members emphasized that they are not attempting to halt airport growth. Instead, they said they want stronger mitigation measures, better environmental analysis and greater compensation for communities located directly beneath flight paths.
Burien Mayor Sarah Moore described the gathering as a historic first step toward greater cooperation between airport-impacted cities.
“The complexity of airport jurisdictions, the way Washington Department of Transportation, the FAA, the county, the Port, businesses, state and federal stakeholders intersect in its management, makes it challenging for the day-to-day impacts to be viewed, measured and addressed,” Moore said.
Moore urged neighboring cities and elected officials to remain engaged as the environmental review process moved forward.
Several committee members questioned economic assumptions contained within the Port’s draft environmental review documents. One member argued that airport-impacted communities receive only a small fraction of airport-related jobs and tax revenue despite absorbing significant noise and environmental burdens.
Others cited concerns over increasing traffic congestion, loss of green space, heat-island effects, and the cumulative impacts of airport-related development and transportation projects such as SR 509.
Discussion repeatedly returned to whether the environmental review adequately accounts for impacts beyond airport property lines, including increased vehicle traffic on surrounding roads, pressure on local infrastructure, and potential health effects from aircraft emissions and ultrafine particles.
Committee members also discussed how to encourage public participation in the review process. Several speakers expressed frustration with the Port’s open-house style meetings, arguing that they do not provide meaningful opportunities for public dialogue. Community leaders instead encouraged residents to submit formal comments and participate in upcoming educational events designed to help the public better understand the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA) process and the airport expansion proposal.
Des Moines Community Development Director Rebecca Deming noted that state regulations provide a mechanism for citizens to request a formal public hearing on the environmental review. Such a hearing would allow members of the public to provide testimony directly for the record, rather than participating in informal open-house sessions. Committee members discussed the importance of meeting deadlines required to trigger such a hearing.
Participants also explored ways to coordinate with consultants, attorneys and city staff already reviewing the Port’s environmental documents. Members suggested developing common questions and data-driven critiques of the Environmental Impact Statement, focusing on areas where they believe impacts may have been underestimated or insufficiently analyzed.
Several speakers highlighted concerns about noise impacts on schools, residential neighborhoods and public facilities, while others called for expanded home insulation programs, increased direct compensation to airport cities and additional research into the health effects of ultrafine particle pollution.
Throughout the meeting, committee members stressed that the issue extends beyond a single environmental review. Speakers called for long-term regional cooperation among airport cities, elected officials and community organizations to ensure local concerns remain part of future airport planning discussions.
The next Joint Des Moines and Burien Airport Committee meeting is scheduled for July 13, 2026. Additional public outreach events and comment opportunities related to the SAMP environmental review are expected throughout the summer as the Port of Seattle continues evaluating the proposed expansion plans.
Watch the joint meeting below:
