I remember hearing about how the expansion project at SFO was put to a halt for three days because a stupid garter snake got squished by a tractor.
Absolutely true.
The thing that really aggravated me about the airport expansion was the tons of debris (cement. rocks, dirt etc) that was hauled out to the Altamont dump site (~25 miles each way) for disposal. Then they applied for an airport runway expansion, which would mean filling in part of the bay.
They could have just dumped that into the ocean.
And yes, Lurkers, I am well aware of the environmental aspects of all this, but it could have been completed in a logical safe practice, with time, effort and thinking put into it.
Garter snakes are as common as grass!