Mar. 2—NEW HAVEN — A draft environmental assessment for Tweed New Haven Regional Airport's proposed expansion project says extending Tweed's runway and building a new terminal on the East Haven side actually would improve the airport's impact on the environment.
But some airport neighbors who oppose airport expansion remain unconvinced.
They are continuing to call for a more extensive environmental impact statement, or EIS — and East Haven Mayor Joe Carfora urged people to read the 206-page environmental assessment that was released Thursday and attend a hearing April 1 at East Haven High School.
Among the EA's findings, highlighted by airport officials, is that the project would reduce overall noise by shifting aircraft ground noise farther from nearby homes.
It would improve air quality in adjacent neighborhoods — in part because aircraft would be farther away from homes — while having a minimal impact on undisturbed wetlands, affecting less than 0.2 acre, with mitigation measures to achieve an overall policy goal of "no net loss," the report concludes.
While the plan calls for the runway to be extended from 5,600 feet to 6,635 feet, the draft EA found that a 60-foot reduction in that proposed length could avoid construction impacts within tidal wetlands. "Therefore, the proposed runway length would be approximately 6,575 feet," which would accomplish Tweed's goals "while fully complying with FAA design and safety standards," it says.
One reason the longer runway is needed is because the Boeing 737-800 airplanes that Avelo Airlines, Tweed's one commercial airline, increasingly wants to use at Tweed can carry 189 passengers but currently are limited to 162 passengers due to weight restrictions associated with the relatively short runway, the EA says.
A longer runway would allow Avelo and other airlines to carry more passengers and operate more efficiently, it says.
The expansion plan also calls for building a new, 80,000-square-foot terminal on the East Haven side of the airport. A new airport entrance would be off Proto Drive in East Haven, with access off Coe Avenue.
The proposed new terminal "would be constructed on piers, raising the finished floor elevation above mean sea level," the EA says. "The space below the finished floor elevation would be left open to allow floodwater to pass."
Impact to wildlife and plant life would be below both federal and local thresholds and the site contains no critical habitat for threatened or endangered species, the draft assessment says.
The EA found that the expansion project would not significantly affect traffic at 11 key intersections. A new traffic signal and intersection improvements would be installed at Proto Drive and Coe Ave in East Haven.
Tweed "needs a new airport access road that bypasses most residential areas and provides standard roadway sizing for the existing and expected peak hour demand and terminal location," the EA says.
The EA is posted at a link on Tweed's TweedMasterPlan.com and FlyTweed.com websites. Paper copies will be available to view at all five branches of the New Haven Free Public Library, as well as the Hagaman Memorial Library in East Haven and the Blackstone Memorial Library in Branford.
The Tweed New Haven Airport Authority also will hold the public information workshop and hearing at East Haven High School April 1. It will begin with an "open house" question-and-answer session from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m., followed by a more formal hearing from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m.
In addition to the public hearing, community members can submit written testimony, which will be reviewed by the FAA and be considered in reaching its ultimate decision. Written comments will be accepted until April 16 via mail or email at: HVN-EA Public Comments, McFarland Johnson, 49 Court St., Suite 240, Binghamton, NY 13901 or [email protected].
The airport prepared the assessment with the support of McFarland Johnson, a national aviation consulting firm.
"Completion of this environmental assessment marks another successful milestone in our work to enhance HVN and fully realize a $100+ million investment in southern Connecticut that will create more than 1,147 direct jobs, in addition to the more than 300 jobs already created in the last year and a half," said Jorge Roberts, CEO of Avports, Tweed's Goldman Sachs-owned operator.
Avports would pay for the expansion as part of a 43-year lease approved late last year.
"The airport will continue to see additional activity in the coming years, and the draft assessment makes clear that this project would reduce the airport's overall environmental impact to the region as that growth occurs," Roberts said in a release.
"We remain committed to ensuring that this expansion is executed in an environmentally sustainable manner," said Tom Rafter, executive director of the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority. "Avports has been an excellent partner throughout, going above and beyond to fulfill the promise of a more sustainable HVN.
"We look forward to continuing to work with our partners and neighbors in the community to make this vision a reality," Rafter said in the release.
He said in a subsequent interview that with regard to calls for an EIS, "The FAA is going to be the final arbiter on that. We're following the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) process."
But the conclusions in the EA are "not just us operating in a vacuum," Rafter said. "This is going through the Federal process. ... It's not like we're just making claims or making assumptions."
With regard to traffic, "They looked at the traffic in detail, studied the different intersections," Rafter said. "They looked at the service levels."
Avports spokesman Andrew King said that "some of it is just logical," such as having airplanes waiting to take off farther away from residential neighborhoods.
"While we understand there's a temptation to use anecdotal information from neighbors, we put in a significant amount of work to get empirical data," King said.
Carfora said in his own release that "while we are disappointed that the FAA did not immediately order the preparation of an environmental impact statement (EIS) for this major airport project as we and many other parties requested, the FAA is required to consider public comments on this draft EA, and ultimately decide whether an EIS is required.
"Our mission, of course, is to protect the citizens of East Haven, and ensure that all aspects of this massive proposed expansion and relocation of the airport into East Haven are fully and fairly considered," Carfora said. "Therefore, I have directed my team — including the experts we have hired — to undertake a thorough and comprehensive review of the draft EA and appendices.
"We will prepare and submit detailed, substantive comments that address the town's concerns and expect that the FAA will recognize the apparent material impacts on the community and, as required by Federal law, undertake the full-scale EIS that is mandated for this significant project," he wrote.
Opponents of expansion say that an EIS still should be done in order to be sure.
"In my opinion, the Environmental Assessment justifies why we need an Environmental Impact Statement and there should be no expansion at this airport in a residential area," said East Haven resident Lorena Venegas, a member of the 10,000 Hawks community group and an administrator of the "Keep Tweed Small" Facebook page.
"The environmental justice issues of development without any community benefits plan for East Haven is unacceptable," Venegas said.
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