Proposed airport sites in Pierce, Thurston counties may not be viable given obstacles

Officials updated lawmakers on the controversial selection process on Monday.

From The Olympian:

Three proposed international airport sites in Pierce and Thurston counties may not be viable given obstacles that have yet to be fully analyzed, the acting chair of Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission said Monday.

Warren Hendrickson of the CACC said each of the three sites have “showstoppers” that could require removing them from consideration.

“My sense is, from what we have learned, the body of knowledge going forward, that I don’t know that it’s possible to mitigate all the considerations and the constraints and the obstacles of those three sites,” Hendrickson said.

Hendrickson, who’s also Airport Senior Manager for the Olympia Regional Airport, addressed the status of the controversial selection process and answered questions from lawmakers during a Washington state House of Representatives Transportation Committee meeting on Monday.

The committee invited officials from CACC, Pierce and Thurston counties and the Nisqually Tribe to comment on the process in light of widespread opposition.

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Scores of public officials and concerned citizens have called the proposed airports existential threats to local communities and the natural environment, The Olympian previously reported.

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Each proposal also is likely to affect watershed water quality, native species and the Nisqually Tribe’s treaty rights, Hendrickson said.

“The Thurston County site sits on top of an aquifer,” Hendrickson said. “The Pierce County sites and the Thurston County site all sit on top of the Nisqually watershed. You have a (Bonneville Power Administration) power line.

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