Will commercial airport plan take off near Everglades?

The city of Homestead supports the conversion of the air base into a commercial airport

September 22, 2000
Web posted at: 3:09 PM EDT (1909 GMT)

From Natalie Pawelski
CNN Environment Correspondent

HOMESTEAD, Florida (CNN) -- Congress is considering spending $8 billion to restore the troubled Florida Everglades. At the same time, there are plans to bring major airlines to a runway a few miles away, touching off a fierce debate.

Florida's Homestead Air Reserve Base has been part military airport and part ghost town since Hurricane Andrew blew through in the early 1990s. Fighter jets take off on training runs while abandoned barracks waste away.

But the relatively quiet air base has become the subject of a noisy debate over whether it should become a busy commercial airport.

ALSO Everglades National Park Homestead AFB     MESSAGE BOARD Environmental issues

The city supports the plan of turning the underused military airport into a commercial one. But there is a major hitch: location.

The air base is less than two miles from Biscayne National Park and about eight miles from Everglades National Park.

"I am scared to death because you can't take a multi-jet aircraft, fly over Biscayne National Park at 200 feet every 90 seconds without destroying the park," said Lloyd Miller, a resident and activist.

Environmentalists say there's too much at risk: the quiet, clean water, the wildlife, the Everglades' river of grass, the islands of Biscayne National Park.

"There is the runoff issue. There is the water quality issue. There is the issue of air pollution," said Alan Farago of the Sierra Club.

Right now, Homestead does not have a lot of air traffic. It remains unclear how big a commercial airport could become.

"The level of military use was much less than the proposed commercial airport. We're talking about 230,000 flights per year, a flight every minute and a half. That's a huge impact," Farrago said.

Conservationists worry about the proposed airport's impact on south Florida's ecosystem

Conservationists say south Florida's unique ecosystem has suffered enough already. Over the past 100 years, the Everglades has lost about half of its territory to growing farms, cities and towns. With south Florida's population expected to double over the next 50 years, pressure from development is only going to continue.

The airport's backers say all that growth is pushing Miami International Airport to the limit. Sooner or later, they say, the area will need another overflow airport. And if you are going to build an airport, it may as well be in a place that already has a runway.

The new airport will "absolutely be a negligible environmental impact to our parks and to our environment. This is going to be very state of the art and it's going to have all the environmental safeguards known to man," said attorney Ramon Rasco.

"We would never ever support a commercial airport at Homestead Air Force Base if we felt in any way it would damage the surrounding the environment," said Alex Pinelas, mayor of Miami-Dade County.

The city of Homestead has recovered somewhat since being devastated by Hurricane Andrew. There's a small downtown, a new racetrack and growing neighborhoods.

Some here are eager for the new jobs and business opportunities that a new commercial airport could bring. Others worry it could forever change Homestead's small-town character, while putting the wetlands around it at risk.

Low biodiversity key to Everglades survival
August 10, 1999
Restoring Florida's Everglades
October 17, 1998
Everglades turn 50, but will they live to see 100?
December 6, 1997
Land purchase helps restore Everglades
June 17, 1997

Homestead Air Force Base
Biscayne National Park
Everglades National Park
Sierra Club
Miami International Airport

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