For Immediate Release
December 17, 2003

Oakland, Calif. (December 17, 2003) - The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners Tuesday approved the Supplemental Environmental Impact Report for Oakland International Airport's development program, allowing the airport to move ahead with the development program that was initially approved in 1997.

"This marks a milestone for Oakland's increasingly popular airport," said Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown. "Oakland International Airport already is the most convenient Bay Area airport, and now it will become a leader in energy efficiency and environmental design as well."

"We can be proud of the cooperation with our neighboring cities and regional agencies that paved the way for today's approval," said John Protopappas, president of the Board of Port Commissioners. "The process shows that our environmental programs are working," he added, noting that the California Air Resources Board commended the Port for its extensive collaboration with air quality officials in developing the report.

"The approval of the SEIR allows us to continue planning for major components of the Airport Development Program such as additional gates and expanded ticketing and baggage areas," said Steven J. Grossman, director of aviation for the Port of Oakland. No target date has been set for constructing these elements of the program.

Construction is expected to start next year on projects that were approved under prior environmental documents. These include a parking garage for approximately 6,000 vehicles and expansion of Terminal Two, including five new gates.

Originally designed for approximately 8 million passengers annually, Oakland International Airport last year had 12.7 million passengers, an 11.5 percent increase over 2001. The new facilities are designed to accommodate an anticipated 13.8 million passengers and 1 million tons of cargo annually.

This supplemental EIR is the result of a court judgment in 2001 that required Oakland International Airport to reassess the impact of its development program on nighttime noise, air quality as it relates to human health risk, and the western burrowing owl, a "species of special concern" under California law.

Released in draft form for public comment in September, the report included the following major findings:

• There will be no substantial increase in sleep disturbance.
• By 2010, as airlines convert to quieter engines, there will be fewer flights at the loudest noise levels. (The loudest noise levels are between 85 and 90 decibels at the residential areas nearest the airport, using what is known as the "sound exposure level" method of measurement. This takes into account both the loudness and the length of a noise event and is a standard method of measuring aircraft noise. The peak noise from an individual take-off or landing is typically about 10 decibels lower than the SEL measurement.)
• The airport's sound insulation program for homes near the airport has been effective in reducing interior noise levels.
• The increased cancer risk from air pollutant emissions associated with additional flights and other sources at the airport is predicted to be less than 10 in 1 million, and with mitigation it will be lower than the current risk. This is because ground service equipment will be converted to cleaner, alternative fuels as part of the Airport Development Program.
• No other significant long-term health effects are predicted to result from emissions associated with airport operations.
• The only health effect the SEIR predicts may occur is short-term eye watering in very sensitive people during the worst combination of weather conditions and aircraft operations. Eye watering has been associated with acrolein, a common byproduct of combustion. Acrolein generally is emitted from a variety of sources, including activities ranging from burning wood to roasting coffee. It also is emitted from vehicle engines and is predicted to be emitted from aircraft engines. Under worst conditions, models used to prepare the SEIR predict that the concentration of acrolein due to increased airport operations would be less than half the concentration known to cause mild eye-watering. Also, such conditions are not expected to occur more than three times per year in any single location. In addition, the SEIR notes that modeling may over predict acrolein concentrations associated with aircraft exhaust. In monitoring conducted at the fence line at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago, no acrolein was detected.
• The Port has complied with all of the California Department of Fish & Game's requirements for mitigation of effects on the burrowing owl.

The new passenger terminal is to be built in accordance with the standards set for environmentally responsible buildings by the U.S. Green Building Council.

The $500 million program is being financed through municipal bonds issued by the Port of Oakland, passenger facility charges levied on airline tickets, airline fees and federal airport improvement funds.

Oakland International Airport has served the San Francisco Bay Area for more than 75 years and is responsible for $4.5 billion in economic activity annually in the San Francisco Bay Area, generating over 70,000 jobs for the region. Oakland International is a revenue division of the Port of Oakland, an independent department of the City of Oakland.

The airport has more than 200 flights a day on 11 domestic and international carriers to 37 nonstop destinations, including Atlanta, the Hawaiian Islands, the New York area, Washington, D.C., and Mexico and seasonal service to the Azores (Portugal), Costa Rica and Sun Valley, Idaho.

The Port of Oakland was established in 1927 as an independent department of the City of Oakland. The Port of Oakland oversees Oakland International Airport, the Oakland seaport and 19 miles of waterfront. The Oakland seaport handled 1.7 million Twenty-Foot-Equivalents (TEUs) of container cargo in 2002 and is the fourth busiest containerport in the U.S. Some 32 ocean carriers provide service into and out of Oakland. The seaport consists of 11 major marine terminals, two near-dock rail facilities and approximately 900 acres of marine and rail terminals.

Contact:
Harold Jones
Director of Communications
(510) 627-1564
hjones@portoakland.com

Jo Murray
Oakland International Airport
(510) 238-8430
jmurray@e-agency.com