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June 23, 2006
Spano Calls FAA
Proposal to Re-route Aircraft Using County Airport Unacceptable and
Potential Security Risk
Flights over Indian Point and noise in residential areas main concerns
TELL THE FAA WHAT YOU THINK BY
SENDING AN EMAIL
A proposal from the FAA to reroute planes taking off from the
Westchester County Airport is unacceptable not only because hundreds of
thousands of people would be affected by noise, but also because of the
“significant” security risk of planes flying directly over Indian Point,
according to County Executive Andy Spano.
In a letter to the Federal Aviation Administration, Spano said he had
“grave concerns” about the adequacy and content of a draft environmental
impact statement (DEIS) and urged the agency to return to the drawing
board and prepare a supplemental DEIS that addresses and clarifies all
relevant issues. To do otherwise, he said, would make any FAA action
invalid.
The Spano Administration has prided itself on having a “good neighbor
policy” for the airport, which means the county has taken many steps
over the last eight years, often working with the FAA and with the
airlines, to mitigate aircraft noise around the airport.
“Precipitous reassignment of air traffic without the legally required
level of review is unacceptable and could undo decades of hard work and
good will,” Spano said in his letter to the FAA’s Steve Kelley. A copy
of the letter was also sent to Westchester’s federal delegation.
Spano said the following communities would be affected adversely by new
noise patterns if the FAA proposal is adopted: Rye Brook, Hawthorne,
Pleasantville, Briarcliff, Croton, Ossining, Buchanan, Peekskill,
Yonkers, Scarsdale and Hastings-on-Hudson.
He added, “Incredibly, it appears that many of the aircraft departing
HPN [the Westchester County Airport] will now be routed directly over
the nuclear power plan at Indian Point, a possibility we view as a
significant security risk that is not acceptable and must be avoided.”
Board of Legislators Majority Leader Martin Rogowsky concurred, saying,
"The FAA cannot proceed with the preparation of a Final EIS based on
this document. This draft is flawed to the point that any decisions
based on it will only invite legal challenges. The FAA would be doing
the right thing by using our comments, and the comments of others, as
the basis for preparing a supplemental draft EIS that more adequately
presents the data necessary for reasonable people to use as the basis
for offering comments."
The county executive attached to his letter to the FAA a detailed
analysis of the proposed flight plans, prepared by the county’s airport
noise consultants. He also provided the FAA with a summary of the
county’s ongoing efforts to abate noise from the airport since 1998.
Among the steps:
The county will
soon unveil a website from which the public will be able to send
“electronic postcards” to the FAA on the matter.
TEXT OF LETTER
June 22, 2006
Mr. Steve Kelley, FAA-NAR
c/o Ram Nagendran
12005 Sunrise Valley Drive, C3.02
Reston, VA 20191
Dear Mr. Kelley:
I am writing as the Chief Elected Official of Westchester County to
state my great concern over both the content and the adequacy of the
Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) regarding the New York/New
Jersey/Philadelphia Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign.
As you are aware, the primary purpose of the DEIS under the National
Environmental Policy Act is to provide interested and affected parties
adequate information upon which to fairly evaluate and make informed
comments about a proposed action. As it concerns the potential noise
impacts on hundreds of thousands of interested and affected people in
Westchester, this draft utterly fails to achieve that goal.
For that reason I have no alternative other than to strongly oppose the
recommended “2011 Integrated Airspace Alternative Variation with
Integrated Control Complex (ICC),” and to urge you to prepare a
Supplemental DEIS clarifying the relevant issues. Implementing the
alternative without the supplemental DEIS would violate your own
procedures and thus make your action invalid.
As both the area government and the sponsor of the Westchester County
Airport, Westchester has a long history of cooperative effort with the
aviation industry and the FAA to minimize noise impacts of air traffic.
The extensive noise monitoring effort managed by the airport and the
airport-sponsored noise abatement procedure program are evidence of that
commitment. The data provided by the monitoring system and the continued
reduction of the airport’s noise contours testify to its success.
Now, precipitous reassignment of air traffic without the legally
required level of review is unacceptable and could undo decades of hard
work and good will.
Our analysis of the limited data indicates that the proposed
re-direction of aircraft leaving the County Airport will have
significant impact on a portion of the Village of Rye Brook and on the
corridor of communities beginning at Hawthorne and running northeast
through Pleasantville, Briarcliff, Ossining, Croton, Buchanan and parts
of the City of Peekskill. It will have potentially significant impacts
on the City of Yonkers, Scarsdale, and Hastings-on-Hudson.
Incredibly, it appears that many of the aircraft departing HPN will now
be routed directly over the nuclear power plant at Indian Point, a
possibility we view as a significant security risk that is not
acceptable and must be avoided.
Because of our grave concern, I directed the firm of Harris Miller
Miller & Hanson, airport noise consultants, to review the DEIS. Enclosed
is their memorandum identifying in detail the deficiencies of the DEIS
with regard to our community. I have also enclosed for your information
a brief description of the County’s historical and ongoing commitment to
noise abatement. They deserve your serious review and appropriate follow
up action in the form of a Supplemental Statement.
I look forward to your prompt reply.
Sincerely,
Andrew J. Spano
County Executive
www.westchestergov.com
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