FAA and Air Force Conduct Noise Study

[EZwerling <EZwerling@xxxxxxx>]

(Foxes guarding the henhouse?)
(Full text:  http://www.nytimes.com/yr/mo/day/news/national/miami-airport.html
)

New York Times
December 25, 1997

Call for Study Delays Plan for Florida Airport

MIAMI -- In a new setback for Homestead, one of the areas hardest hit by 
Hurricane Andrew five years ago, the federal government has ordered the 
city to postpone building an airport on the site of an Air Force 
installation until an environmental study can determine whether the 
project would damage the Everglades and protected coastal areas. 

The study, which is expected to begin next month, will be conducted by 
the Air Force and the Federal Aviation Administration. ((Comment (not by
NYTIMES): These are two agencies noted for their sensitivity to environmental
issues in general and noise issues in particular.))

The city's plan would use the existing Air Force runway and build a 
terminal, hangars, warehouses and cargo facilities....

Three years ago, the Air Force conducted an environmental-impact study, 
but after planners revised the original proposal, it decided to 
commission a new review. The proposed changes included an increase in 
the number of cargo flights and the possibility of adding a runway......

For environmental groups, however, the government's decision, which was 
announced Tuesday, signaled a small victory in a protracted battle 
involving politicians, federal agencies and wildlife advocates. 

They have long argued that a new airport and its accompanying noise 
could threaten the health and reproductive ability of wildlife in the 
Everglades National Park, which lies 12 miles west of the 1,300-acre 
site, and the coastal Biscayne National Park, located two miles to the 
east. 

The decision by the White House to postpone construction for the study 
"was a victory for our national park system," said Alan Farago, the 
political conservation chairman of the Sierra Club in Miami, adding that 
it is "time to take a big step back from this massive airport." 

Still, Farago said, the new environmental-impact study does not assure 
the sanctity of both parks. Dade County officials have drafted tentative 
plans for a second runway and other expansion by about 2015 that, 
officials estimate, could cost as much as $2.2 billion, he noted......

"This is no small airport," Farago said. "They are trying to hide an 
elephant with a mouse." 

***End of Excerpt***

Amazing, the Air Force and the FAA conducting an Environmental Impact Study,
especially one in which noise is the primary concern. I believe that Arline
has had some experience with the Air Force's attitude towards noise....
Somebody needs to make sure that this EIS is kept honest, or at least reviewed
and responded to properly. Arline?

Happy Holidays
Eric






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