Bid reveals environmental threats from airport projects : Cayman News Service

(CNS): The Cayman Islands Airport Authority has opened a bid for consultants to draw up terms of reference for environmental impact assessments of proposed changes at the three airports. The CIAA has unveiled ambitious and controversial plans for the redevelopment of the airports, all of which pose significant environmental threats. The bid is focused on finding experts to conduct EIAs of proposals to expand the runway at the Owen Roberts International Airport on Grand Cayman, widen the Charles Kirkconnell International Airport on Cayman Brac, and move the Edward Bodden Airfield on Little Cayman,

Regardless of the environmental challenges they pose to the marine and terrestrial environments, officials said in the procurement documents that these three projects, all part of the 2041 Master Plan, have been classified as priorities.

The CIAA has said that the runway extension at ORIA is needed to meet market demand for long-haul flights, though there are concerns that this demand has been exaggerated. The project calls for a 340-metre extension and a 240-metre end safety area runway into the North Sound, which has serious environmental implications.

On Cayman Brac, the regulatory need to widen that runway by 75 metres will encroach on the Westerly Ponds on the south side of the runway.

However, the most controversial plan is the relocation of the airfield on Little Cayman, where the CIAA has dismissed a number of alternative solutions and has opted for the airfield to be relocated onto CIAA-owned undeveloped land in the centre of the island. The plan faces significant objections from residents, who do not want the airfield to change and fear that having a certified airport will only put the whole of this precious natural island at risk.

The National Conservation Council has determined that EIAs are needed for all three projects before they can proceed. The Department of Environment submitted scoping opinions in August last year and the NCC formed an Environment Assessment Board to guide the process.

In its review of the ORIA runway expansion proposal, the DoE warned of the environmental threats posed by the project.

“The utilization of larger planes and a potentially increased volume of flights comes with a risk of an impact to air quality, primarily due to the emissions,” the DoE said. “Major pollutants released by aircraft engines include nitrogen oxides (NOx), sulfur oxides (SOx), particulate matter, carbon monoxide, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Larger planes typically have more powerful engines, and require engines to operate at higher power levels during take-off and landing.”

Residents around ORIA will be affected by noise and vibration during the construction and operation of the airport, which also has the potential to cause structural damage to their homes. Construction will involve dredging, filling, earthwork and grading, all dependent on heavy equipment, which will cause disturbances for nearby residents, tourists and wildlife.

The DoE warned that if air traffic increases in size and quantity, this could, over time, lead to various health concerns such as annoyance, sleep disturbance and stress to residents living nearby, as well as reduce property values and disturb the overall quality of life for those in the surrounding area.

Pushing the runway into the North Sound will curtail all recreational water activity in the area for residents living on the shoreline and ruin the views for some luxury condo owners. The mangrove buffer will be lost, not only by changing the natural aesthetics of the coastline and altering water views but also by increasing the vulnerability of a large number of nearby residential properties to flooding and storm surges.

“The extension of the runway into the North Sound may alter wave patterns and increase vulnerability of the surrounding area to erosion. Changes in the coastline can affect the natural buffering capacity of the shoreline against wave action,” the DoE warned, noting that the runway itself would be vulnerable to damage from extreme weather events such as hurricanes.

Around 44 acres of benthic habitat, including seagrass beds, have already been reduced because of surrounding development. These beds complement the mangroves, providing a healthy ecosystem for marine life and helping to protect and stabilise the coastline. However, there is also a significant threat of major water pollution and its adverse consequences for marine life in the area.

All of these threats will need to be weighed against the position of the Ministry of Tourism and Ports, which has oversight of the airports, and CIAA that the extension is justified economically, though the Outline Business Case for the airports made no case at all for the runway extension.

Meanwhile, on Cayman Brac the main environmental threat is to the ponds and wildlife. Although the ponds are no longer animal sanctuaries, they are frequently used by birds. The site also contains habitat used by Sister Islands rock iguanas, a protected species. “These Iguanas are critically endangered and found nowhere else in the world but Cayman Brac and Little Cayman, and may be impacted by the construction and operation of the runway,” the DoE said.

The filling of the ponds during the widening project will permanently alter the habitat, and the management of birds with the use of lethal control during airport operations is already a concern.

“Many bird species rely on ponds and wetlands as stopover points during migration,” the DoE scoping opinion noted. “Eliminating these resting and foraging areas can disrupt migration patterns, leading to exhaustion and decreased survival rates, eventually leading to a decline in biodiversity. The filling of the ponds, combined with the very limited extent of remaining wetland habitat on Cayman Brac, has the potential to amplify these impacts.”

The work would also negatively affect nesting iguanas. Clearing the vegetation and preparing the site would disrupt nests and interfere with nesting behaviour, while pollution and runoff could affect soil and water quality. The expansion would also bring the runway closer to a sea turtle nesting beach that is proposed as a critical nesting habitat. It would also be closer to Channel Bay and West End, two marine reserves with coral reefs and nearshore seagrass beds.

Other protected species that would likely be impacted by the works are fish, sea urchins, lobsters and sponges. Run-off associated with construction has the potential to impact the marine environment through turbidity, causing stress to organisms through smothering. Construction of the runway would involve earthwork and grading and the installation of drainage systems. These alterations could change the natural drainage patterns of the area. If not properly managed, these changes have the potential to result in increased stormwater runoff, erosion, flooding and sedimentation of nearby water bodies.

The construction of a new airport on Little Cayman presents a catalogue of problems, and the DoE has said it is important that the EIA cover alternative options to the current relocation proposal. The site consists of dry shrubland, seasonally flooded mangroves and some man-modified areas.

It is also adjacent to the Booby Pond Nature Reserve and Rookery, designated as a Wetland of International Importance under the Ramsar Convention. This is home to one of the largest breeding colonies of red-footed boobies (Sula sula) in the Caribbean, comprising at least 30% of the total regional population and the only breeding colony in the Cayman Islands.

Check CNS later today for a separate report on the extensive environmental problems noted by the DoE if the airport project on Little Cayman goes ahead.