Local lawyer/filmmaker/activist Steve Edmiston released ‘The Briefing: Episode 18 – When Words Matter,’ where he continues his ongoing documentary project that takes on the Port of Seattle, Sea-Tac Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration.
This is the “penultimate” episode, where Edmiston discusses the nature of the Port of Seattle’s support for pending Washington State legislation relating to a new primary commercial airport siting commission:
The filmmaker strongly supports the legislation and the 30th and 33rd District legislators who have drafted and advocated for the new airport.
However, Edmiston points to concerns that the Port supports only the Senate version of the bill, which recently added new language by amendment tethering the siting process to a 10-year old study that Edmiston contends creates ambiguity in terms of the overall legislation.
Edmiston is further concerned that unlike the legislation itself, the Port does not reference concerns over human health and the environment as reasons for supporting a new airport.
“The Port’s words matter – and the Port’s decision to support a newly amended version of the bill that is tethered to a study that concludes reaching capacity is required before a new airport can be sited, and failure to support the bill even in part because of community health and environmental concerns, seems to place at risk the original intent of the bills,” Edmiston said.
Edmiston is responding to an FAA and Port staff briefing in Spring, 2017 that he contends was both incomplete and inadequate because it failed to convey, among other things, data on the harms being caused to humans and the environment by airplanes.
The goals of this documentary film project include using Edmiston’s collected public comments as the spine of a feature documentary film.
As a private citizen, under Port bylaws, Edmiston must provide his 43-minute briefing – the same time provided to the FAA and Port staff – in two-minute public comment segments. Edmiston estimates the project will take 9 to 12 months to complete.
For more information on this compelling ‘Citizen vs Goliath’ project, visit:
Our prior coverage is available here.
