SFO sued
Green groups cite violations of the public's right to know

By A.C. Thompson

San Francisco International Airport's bid to pave the bay hit another snag last week as a coalition of green groups filed suit against the airport and the San Francisco Planning Department.

At issue: nine volumes of scientific studies related to the proposed runway expansion. Citing local and state open-government laws, environmentalists – Arc Ecology, San Francisco BayKeeper, the local League of Conservation Voters chapter – requested copies of the paperwork in August 2001. A year later, the airport and planning department have yet to produce said taxpayer-generated documents, which include air-quality, biology, water-quality, and habitat reports.

"The clients have waited almost a year to have this thing resolved, and nothing's happened," said Alan Ramo, a Golden Gate University law professor representing the greens. "There's a lot of documents they haven't given up."

Airport spokesperson Kandace Bender said the studies were undertaken in conjunction with the Federal Aviation Administration, which doesn't want the documents made public – and doesn't have to comply with local and state public records laws. "Our position remains the same," she said.

Asked if citizens will ever lay eyes on the remaining research, Bender told us, "Maybe."

E-mail A.C. Thompson at ac_thompson@sfbg.com.