By MELISSA NELSON, The Associated Press
Nov 14, 2006 3:37 PM (14 days ago)
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Federal Aviation Administration's recent approval of plans to move Panama City's airport to 4,000 undeveloped acres in western Bay County donated by the state's largest private landowner violated federal law, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by conservation groups.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Defenders of Wildlife and Friends of PFN (Panama City Airport) filed the action to review the FAA decision in the New York's 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"Ultimately what we are going to request is that they throw out the FAA decision because the law requires the agency choose the alternative that would cause the least amount of damage to the environment," said Melanie Shepherdson, a Natural Resources Defense Council attorney.
The FAA gave the go-ahead in September for construction of what is expected to be the nation's first new airport since Sept. 11, 2001. County leaders want to move the airport from St. Andrews Bay where it is confined by water and residential development.
Land developer St. Joe Co. owns about 800,000 acres in the Panhandle, including 78,000 surrounding 4,000 acres it donated for the new airport. The company, the state's largest private land owner, was founded by the duPont family in the 1930s as a paper company.
Advocates for the relocation have said it is a better alternative than extending the existing runways into the bay. Randy Curtis, executive director of the Bay County International Airport and a supporter of the move, said the lawsuit was expected.
"The FAA has gone to great care to follow the various laws," he said.
The lawsuit claims the FAA ignored the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the Airport and Airways Improvement Act.
In September, scientists said they had seen the rare Ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird once thought extinct, in the nearby Choctawhatchee River basin - a claim that makes conservation all the more urgent, the lawsuit said.
Shepherdson said her organization has already asked the FAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which still has permit approvals pending, to review the project because of the Ivory-billed sightings.
"It is a significant development," she said.
But Curtis said planners have researched the Ivory-billed's habitat and do not believe the bird is in the area.
"We don't think that is going to be an issue for us. It is something we have looked at quite extensively. Where it was seen was quite a distance from the airport site," he said.
The initial design for the $331 million Bay County International Airport calls for it to encompass about 1,300 acres, it will have room to expand throughout the 4,000 acres - an area roughly the size of the Atlanta airport. Construction is expected to begin in March with the airport opening in late 2009 - a timeline Curtis said shouldn't change because of the legal action.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Nov 14, 2006 3:37 PM (14 days ago)
PENSACOLA, Fla. - The Federal Aviation Administration's recent approval of plans to move Panama City's airport to 4,000 undeveloped acres in western Bay County donated by the state's largest private landowner violated federal law, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday by conservation groups.
The Natural Resources Defense Council, The Defenders of Wildlife and Friends of PFN (Panama City Airport) filed the action to review the FAA decision in the New York's 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
"Ultimately what we are going to request is that they throw out the FAA decision because the law requires the agency choose the alternative that would cause the least amount of damage to the environment," said Melanie Shepherdson, a Natural Resources Defense Council attorney.
The FAA gave the go-ahead in September for construction of what is expected to be the nation's first new airport since Sept. 11, 2001. County leaders want to move the airport from St. Andrews Bay where it is confined by water and residential development.
Land developer St. Joe Co. owns about 800,000 acres in the Panhandle, including 78,000 surrounding 4,000 acres it donated for the new airport. The company, the state's largest private land owner, was founded by the duPont family in the 1930s as a paper company.
Advocates for the relocation have said it is a better alternative than extending the existing runways into the bay. Randy Curtis, executive director of the Bay County International Airport and a supporter of the move, said the lawsuit was expected.
"The FAA has gone to great care to follow the various laws," he said.
The lawsuit claims the FAA ignored the Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act and the Airport and Airways Improvement Act.
In September, scientists said they had seen the rare Ivory-billed woodpecker, a bird once thought extinct, in the nearby Choctawhatchee River basin - a claim that makes conservation all the more urgent, the lawsuit said.
Shepherdson said her organization has already asked the FAA and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which still has permit approvals pending, to review the project because of the Ivory-billed sightings.
"It is a significant development," she said.
But Curtis said planners have researched the Ivory-billed's habitat and do not believe the bird is in the area.
"We don't think that is going to be an issue for us. It is something we have looked at quite extensively. Where it was seen was quite a distance from the airport site," he said.
The initial design for the $331 million Bay County International Airport calls for it to encompass about 1,300 acres, it will have room to expand throughout the 4,000 acres - an area roughly the size of the Atlanta airport. Construction is expected to begin in March with the airport opening in late 2009 - a timeline Curtis said shouldn't change because of the legal action.
Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
