City Files for Dismissal as Orca Nexus and Other Environmental Groups Urgently Call for Accuracy in Seattle’s Growth Plan Environmental Review

Seattle files to dismiss the Orca Appeal as a broad coalition of environmental groups urgently call for accuracy in One Seattle Plan environmental review.

SEATTLE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--A broad coalition of environmental advocates is calling for an accurate environmental review of Seattle’s Comprehensive Plan—one that includes impacts on the 74 critically endangered Southern Resident Killer Whales (SRKW) in the largest recent environmental legal challenge, the Orca Appeal. To effectively address both housing affordability and climate equity, the City must ensure its 20-year growth plan is based on inclusive and scientifically sound environmental analyses, according to the appellant. NOAA’s SRKW Recovery Plan recommends that the largest cities along Puget Sound reduce polluted stormwater runoff—a major threat to the whales. Trees filter pollutants, cool waterways, and reduce stormwater flow.

The appellant, Jennifer Godfrey of Orca Nexus, alleges the City’s adopted plan fails to accurately assess the increased runoff and sewage overflows that could potentially result from replacing tree canopy with concrete. It also omits meaningful comparison between “concrete-heavy” luxury development and more affordable orca-friendly alternatives, such as “concrete-light” middle housing (such as stacked flats and building renovations) that preserve green space and mature trees, according to the appellant.

The coalition brings together urban sustainability, orca, cetacean, salmon, bird, urban tree, watershed and wildlife experts. Twelve organizations and experts, including Orca Conservancy, Birds Connect Seattle, American Cetacean Society (Puget Sound Chapter), Oceanic Preservation Society, Captain Paul Watson Foundation, and Thornton Creek Alliance signed an Amicus Brief urging the City to protect both the public right to appeal and the environment by reinstating the Orca Appeal to protect our ecosystem and endangered species during densification.

In April 2025, the City of Seattle’s Hearing Examiner dismissed the Orca Appeal concerning the Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) for the City’s growth plan, the “One Seattle Plan.” The Orca Appeal centered on the FEIS’s failure to assess impacts to orcas from increased polluted stormwater runoff. The SRKW were listed as endangered in 2005 with just 83 individuals and have further declined to just 74 today. The appellant asserts the One Seattle Plan will further reduce canopy coverage following years of the City’s failure to achieve canopy goals. This dismissal effectively removes the public right to use the long established appeal process on an inadequate EIS, possibly setting a dangerous precedent, according to the appellant. “The City Attorney acted in bad faith by continually delaying the case, then filed a motion to dismiss for ‘mootness’ which could prevent our March 4th court date,” says Godfrey. The appellant has until January 28th to respond to the City’s Motion to Dismiss.

The Orca Appeal is scheduled for argument on March 4th before the Washington State Court of Appeals, Case No. 882520.

Shari Tarantino, Executive Director of Orca Conservancy: “We cannot talk about a ‘One Seattle’ future without acknowledging that this city exists because of the waters that surround it. Endangered Southern Resident killer whales are a barometer of ecological health. If they are starving or dying from toxins, it means our systems are failing. The Comprehensive Plan must play a decisive role in reversing this decline. It is our moral and legal responsibility.”