WEST BAY
A crew of seven people started preliminary work Wednesday on the new Panama City-Bay County International Airport.
Significantly scaled back pending a Jan. 23 federal appellate court hearing, the work will not affect environmentally sensitive areas.
James Finch, head of Phoenix Construction, said he had three people on site installing silt fences. That is in addition to a four-person survey team from KBR Inc., construction manager for the project.
“We’re not really doing anything until the hearing,” Finch said.
On Nov. 29, Judge Richard C. Wesley, of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in New York, ordered an interim stay on airport construction because of an appeal of the Federal Aviation Administration’s record of decision. The appeal is being sought by a local pilot’s organization, Friends of PFN, as well as two environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and Defenders of Wildlife. They argue construction of the airport would “irreparably harm” sensitive environmental areas.
Although the groups were seeking a total ban on construction, a three-judge panel decided Dec. 17 that preliminary work could begin prior to the hearing. The decision stipulated the work could not damage or destroy wetlands.
Earlier, airport officials claimed the delay could cost more than $1 million a month. With preliminary work allowed, Airport Authority Vice Chairman Bill Cramer said construction should be able to remain on schedule.
“The project is on track,” Cramer said.
Finch said he feels pretty confident the project will be able to continue unabated after the outcome of the hearing.
“You know, I think it’ll be favorable,” he said. “A judge, all he can do is check the FAA. A decision is up to the FAA, not really a judge.”
While interested in the Jan. 23 verdict from New York on the record of decision, Friends of PFN’s Fred Werner thinks people have underestimated a Dec. 14 decision by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to suspend a Section 404 permit. Without the permit, the project as currently planned is virtually sunk, he said.
“To me, the 404 permit is much more devastating,” Werner said. “The Corps of Engineers is saying, ‘Whoa.’”
Finch said he believed the Corps permit was pulled in conjunction with the FAA suit and would be reissued once that matter was resolved.
“I think that was just a routine decision, there,” Finch said. “From what I understand, the only thing afoul is with the record of decision, but who knows.”
According to Don Hambrick, senior project manager in the Corps’ Panama City office, the “who knows?” question is appropriate. This is the first 404 permit the Corps has suspended in Northwest Florida.
“I’ve worked in the Panhandle for 23 years; I don’t recall us ever doing that before,” Hambrick said. “There’s not a regular procedure.”
Though the Corps’ move directly followed the appellate court’s stay, the 404 permit will not be necessarily reissued in tandem with a green light from New York.
“I can’t guarantee that,” Hambrick said. “We’ll review what the decision is at that time.”
Prior to the Corps’ decision to suspend the permit, groups opposing the airport relocation project had threatened to challenge the 404 permit in court.