Hurricane Andrew struck Miami in 1992, with catastrophic damage to Homestead Air Force Base in Homestead. A plan to rejuvenate the property in 1993 and convert it into a commercial airport was met with enthusiasm from local municipal and commercial entities hoping to recoup $480 million and 11,000 jobs lost in the local community by the destruction and subsequent closing of the base.[58] On March 31, 1994, the base was designated as a reserve base, functioning only part-time.[59] A cursory environmental study performed by the Air Force was deemed insufficient by local conservation groups, who threatened to sue in order to halt the acquisition when estimates of 650 flights a day were projected. Groups had previously been alarmed in 1990 by the inclusion of Homestead Air Force Base on a list of the U.S. Government's most polluted properties.[60] Their concerns also included noise, and the inevitable collisions with birds using the mangrove forests as rookeries. The Air Force base is located between Everglades National Park and Biscayne National Park, giving it the potential to cause harm to both. In 2000, Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt and the director of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency expressed their opposition to the project, despite other Clinton Administration agencies previously working to ensure the base would be turned over to local agencies quickly and smoothly as "a model of base disposal".[61][62] Although attempts were made to make the base more environmentally friendly, in 2001 local commercial interests promoting the airport lost federal support.