SFO claims that the runway plan will be a win for the environment because SFO is ready to pay for the acquisition or restoration of bay wetlands (as would be required under state law). While the damage that will be done will be immediate and certain, any restoration project will take decades to complete and there will be uncertainty as to the results. Philip Williams, an expert in wetland restoration recently told the San Francisco Chronicle that, "Tidal wetland restoration is an experimental science."¹⁷ Wetlands restoration must be pursued, but given the challenges of such projects, restoration should not be used as a justification for doing significant damage to the Bay.

While SFO promises to provide a short-term funding windfall, the fact is that many other organizations are dedicated to the restoration of the same wetlands. Wetland restoration is a slow and steady process that will take decades, regardless of how much money SFO provides. Organizations like the Save The Bay believe that restoration can be achieved without allowing further degradation of the bay. State and Federal funds have recently been approved to aid in the acquisition of lands. Recently, a bill sponsored by State Assembly member Carol Migden (San Francisco) set aside $25 million for the purchase of salt ponds in the South Bay. Private organizations like the Peninsula Open Space Trust have also provided millions of dollars for restoration.

SFO has identified numerous mitigation sites in the South Bay including the Cargill salt ponds. This is ironic because the new runway configurations would impair the tidal flows to South Bay and make restoration of these sites more difficult. SFO's Runway Reconfiguration Study found that, "with poor tidal circulation in the South Bay, pollutants tend to build up and can be quite high during certain times of the year." SFO's Science Panel found that with the new runways, "changes in the tidal and sedimentation supply regimes could severely affect the form and ecological function of intertidal habitats throughout the subregion." ¹⁸

While SFO has touted the number acres that may be restored with their funds, it is important to recognize that the circulatory and water quality impacts affect the entire bay including the healthy wetlands that are dependent on the tidal cycle. Some business leaders have commented that the volume of fill seems small in comparison to the size of the entire bay. If you drop a fistful of dirt in to a goldfish bowl, you can quickly see how a relatively small amount of 'sediment' can affect a large volume of water.

While some proponents of the airport expansion plan and the associated mitigations consider the mitigation funds to be a windfall, the fact is that most of the funds will ultimately come out of the pockets of Bay Area residents. SFO will likely obtain mitigation funds by selling airport revenue bonds. The cost of servicing the bonds would be passed directly to the airlines that would in turn factor the cost into ticket prices. If the public is going to pay for restoration, it could easily be accomplished through a state bond issue that would have a lower financial cost and a lower environmental cost to the people of the Bay Area.

17 San Francisco Chronicle, Will Wetlands Return?- front page 3/12/01
18 Report of the San Francisco Airport Science Panel, October 19-20, 1999 - Page 17

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