San Francisco Bay Oakland Worldwide Airport on Thursday launched the remaining environmental affect report for its long-planned airport growth venture, a doc opponents say comprises main flaws and demonstrates flagrant disregard for public well being.
The report outlines how adjustments in air high quality, greenhouse fuel emissions, noise, well being hazards and visitors might be addressed if the airport will get approval to modernize and additional develop the getting older aviation hub in phases over the following six years.
The airport desires to improve its two present terminals and construct a brand new terminal with as much as 16 new gates, replace its decades-old amenities to fulfill evolving aviation business requirements and enhance operational effectivity and security for passengers and staff.
The airport’s precise footprint wouldn’t broaden beneath the proposal, however present amenities could be torn right down to make room for the growth of worldwide arrival areas. Parking heaps and roadways would additionally get makeovers.
A draft report was launched in July 2023. Among the many adjustments to the ultimate model of the environmental affect report are an up to date soil and groundwater evaluation, a research to find out if the venture will affect burrowing owls’ habitats, and an replace to the noise impacts part of the report. The ultimate report additionally features a neighborhood profit settlement that may give East Oakland residents extra say in regards to the venture’s impacts on their neighborhood.
“All of the research that we did concluded that it didn’t change our findings that there are not any further vital impacts,’’ stated Colleen Liang, director of environmental packages and planning on the Port of Oakland, which oversees the airport.
However representatives from the main opposition group, Cease OAK Growth Coalition, are calling on Port of Oakland commissioners to vote in opposition to the ultimate environmental affect report at a gathering on Nov. 21 and return it to Port employees for extra work. If commissioners certify the report, the transfer will greenlight building on some parts of the venture that might start as early as subsequent 12 months, a Port spokesperson stated Thursday.
“We additional name on the Port commissioners to interact neighborhood stakeholders and develop a modernization plan for the airport that protects public well being and appears to an environmentally sustainable future,’’ stated coalition steering committee member Kay Guinane in a press release.
Cease OAK Growth Coalition, which is made up of 78 environmental justice, local weather, labor, public well being, medical and spiritual teams, stated the ultimate environmental affect report failed to incorporate a Well being Influence Evaluation as requested by the Alameda County Public Well being Division in a letter to the Port final October.
“It’s deplorable that the Port employees selected to disregard their very own county Public Well being Division, refusing to rent a public well being company to do the proper well being research that the well being division requested, to find out the affect that extra flights from airport growth would have on the well being of East Oakland youngsters residing beneath the flight paths. As a substitute, they employed a consulting firm to do an engineering research masquerading as a well being threat evaluation,” stated David Foecke, a coalition steering committee member, in a press release.
Such an evaluation would have examined air air pollution, greenhouse fuel emissions and noise and vibration, based on the well being division.
The well being division, in a letter to the port, stated East Oakland residents, many inside the airport flight path, are hospitalized or taken to an emergency room for bronchial asthma thrice extra typically than individuals in different components of Alameda County.
Liang stated the ultimate environmental affect report does, nonetheless, embody a human well being threat evaluation, which checked out most cancers dangers, well being hazards, emissions publicity from airport operations amongst different issues.
“It was a sturdy well being threat evaluation that we used within the environmental affect report,’’ Liang stated. “We really consulted with the air district and it’s very in line with immediately’s business requirements and the federal pointers.”
The ultimate environmental affect report additionally contains responses from the Port to greater than 1,000 public feedback. Liang stated a majority of these feedback centered round air high quality, greenhouse fuel emissions, impacts to the Oakland neighborhood and noise.
“I perceive and recognize the feedback offered,’’ Liang stated. “ We’re doing every little thing in our authority to push for zero emissions with or with out this proposed venture. We actually wish to be cleaner and greener on the San Francisco Bay Oakland Worldwide Airport.”
Port officers stated the venture will assist the airport meet forecasted regional air journey demand all through the Bay Space over the following 20 years, in keeping with a projected rise in nationwide air journey. However opponents say the alleged market-based demand for growth is “pure fiction.”
The airport is seeing about 80% of pre-pandemic passenger ranges as a result of many enterprise vacationers have opted to fulfill on Zoom as an alternative of flying. Passenger visitors additionally fell by 4% between fiscal years 2023 and 2024. Liang stated the growth is required as a result of the airport initiatives it’ll serve almost 25 million passengers a 12 months by 2038, roughly 14 million greater than it served final 12 months.
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