ENF Terminal E MEPA Response Letter

Below is a letter created by Air Inc for all to use to comment on the Terminal E Environmental Notification Form Due December 9th. Please feel free to use the letter below and email it to:
Page.Czepiga@state.ma.us and be sure to cc: your elected officials. If you live in East Boston, their emails are salvatore.lamattina@boston.gov, Anthony.Petruccelli@masenate.gov,  Adrian.Madaro@mahouse.gov You can also physically mail it to the Address below.

Check out the extended list of questions, comments, concerns and alternate versions to help personalize your letter.  Remeber, personalized letters will have more of an impact. You can download our letter as a Word Doc or print as a PDF.

Dont forget to add your name at the bottom!

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Mr. Matthew Beaton

Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs

Attn: Page Czepiga, EEA No. 15434

100 Cambridge Street, Suite 900

Boston MA 02114

 

Dear Secretary Beaton,

This is a comment letter about the proposal to expand Terminal E at Logan Airport. After reading the Environmental Notification Form, I have concerns about the effects of this expansion on the community and the residents affected by the environmental impacts of the project.

Transportation Impacts

The Massachusetts Port Authority has done an insufficient job of addressing the transportation impacts of the Terminal E Modernization.  The project ENF does not provide credible evidence that the proposed expanded Terminal will not produce additional induced demand for vehicle trips and parking.

Without enhancements to Logan Express, extending the Blue Line and funding the Red / Blue Connector to provide alternative modes of transportation to and from Logan, MEPA should anticipate that 8 million additional passengers will produce demand for over 6,000 additional spaces and millions of additional trips.  In fact, under the strain of current congestion, (with 31,000,000 passengers per year), Massport has already proposed increasing the number of available parking spaces at Logan to 26,088 spaces.  And today, toll-evading taxis routinely invade East Boston streets, adding to local pollution and reducing the walkability of East Boston communities.

Failure to Consider Alternatives

Community residents have promoted regional air travel planning for over 30 years.  Yet now, despite the chronic health crises caused by Logan Airport pollution, Massport’s engineers are attempting to build their way to success; looking only at on airport solutions for Massachusetts’ international air travel needs, without adequately weighing the societal, public health and related economic costs.

Rather than studying viable regional project alternatives in the ENF, the Port Authority studied only a No Build, to a Partial Build, to a Full Build scenario.  This is a serious failure, as it is clear that Logan will not be able to fulfill the travel needs of the New England region far into the future within the bounds of this small airport’s landlocked footprint.  Already, the Port Authority is planning to grow passenger volumes 43% over the next 14 years, increasing pollution by 24%.

MEPA should require the Port Authority to thoroughly investigate a feasible range of alternatives in order to properly assess the environmentally beneficial impacts of this proposal.

Noise

Even while Massport sends out marketing teams in search of more international business for Logan; and even as they will have doled out $5.6 million over the next few years in incentives to bring business here (Adding to what they predict will be a 30% increase in flights over the next 14 years), these same Port Authority officials claim that these flights would come whether or not they built a new terminal.  Thus the Terminal E Modernization ENF repeatedly concludes wishful ‘findings of no significant impact’ (FONSI) in regards to the project.  Based upon current, real world fleet characteristics, MEPA should expect this project to bring with it an increase in airport noise which is commensurate with the volume of additional flights it promises to bring, accounting for at least a 17% increase in airport noise.

Health / Pollution

Logan Airport pollution has been proven to cause a 360% increased risk of probable childhood asthma and 200% increased risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.  Transportation sources are also known to cause 50 – 100% greater risk of cardiovascular and lung cancer deaths, 100 – 300% greater risk of childhood autism, 300% increase in risk of heart attack.  And finally, jet pollution fallout has been proven to follow predictable patterns under flight paths, exposing thousands upon thousands of Boston region residents, even miles away from runway ends to pollution 6 – 8 times urban average levels, and thus exposing them to all of the heightened risks and adverse health outcomes.

Current Massport plans call for an a 43% expansion in passenger volume causing a 24% increase in NOx. With the expanded Terminal E expected to contribute 57% to this passenger growth, the project will cause a 14% increase in NOx by itself, a fact which must be weighed by MEPA in considering the environmental impacts of this project.

It is my hope that you will carefully consider these concerns and act in the interests of the people and neighborhoods impacted by airport operations.

Sincerely,

 

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