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Public Hearing on filling the
Duck Pond Scheduled for May 3
The county is proposing to fill
in most of the Duck Pond to build a 600’ Runway Safety Area (RSA)
extending from the west end of the runway toward the high school. A
public hearing will be held from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm on Thursday,
May 3, 2007 at the Harvey Government Center, 2nd Floor,
BOCC Chambers, 1200 Truman Ave., in Key West.
The Duck Pond, 100' off the west
end of the runway, is unique. Fresher than the other salt ponds,
it attracts more birds, and even with the proximity of jets, still
provides valuable habitat for marine life, ducks, wading birds and shore
birds.
Filling a salt pond requires
extensive mitigation. The Duck Pond would be "relocated" along
Government Road (removing some existing mangroves and salt marsh
vegetation) and would look more like a ditch than a pond. The edges
would be sloped up and replanted in mangroves. Additional mitigation
would occur at the east end of the runway.
Last
Stand has been fighting to protect the salt ponds and
stop runway extensions for more than twenty years . We have many
concerns about this proposal, and have engaged a consultant to help us
evaluate the environmental damage and feasibility of the mitigation.
We will continue to update our members on this issue.
The Draft Environmental
Assessment (EA) is available for review at the
airport director’s office. (It is not available on the county's
website as previously reported here, due to the size of the files.) Comments can be sent to:
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| Peter Horton,
Airport Director |
| Key West
International Airport |
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3491 S. Roosevelt Blvd |
| Key West, FL.
33040 |
The deadline for comments is May
16, .2007 |
