By Mike Scerbo

The Arizona Department of Transportation has decided against a massive expansion of the Grand Canyon Airport. The Center for Biological Diversity had been tracking the expansion because it was concerned about the impact it would have on the environment, specifically, water supplies.

The original plan was to increase the terminal by 2,000 square feet. When the Center for Biological Diversity inquired about studies on the environmental impact, it was notified that the project has been shelved. Here is a link to the letter from the Federal Aviation Administration.

The Center's Dr. Robin Silver said, "We are pleased that ADOT with help from the FAA has decided to observe our environmental laws and we won't have to go through years of litigation."

Previously, Silver sent a cease and desist letter to the FAA outlining its concerns. Here is a link to that letter.

Stilo had been counting on the airport expansion to fuel the profitability of its massive and controversial development project which would add three million square feet of commercial space to Tusayan.

Both the airport expansion and the Stilo project are opposed by the Sierra Club, and the Superintendent of the Grand Canyon National Park, just to name a few.