Concord Journal
November 10, 2005

Guest commentary:
Action needed against Crosspoint

By Margareta Lidskog

I am writing to explain why the Crosspoint project at Hanscom Field is so
dangerous and to urge citizens to actively oppose it before it's too late.

At the outset, it's essential to understand that Massport, not the Air
Force, owns Hanscom Field. The mission of Hanscom Air Force Base is
research, not flying; no military planes are stationed here, and military
flights constitute less than 1 percent of airport operations. The recent
decision not to enlarge the Air Force base has absolutely nothing to do with
Hanscom Field, which Massport is aggressively expanding into a mega
corporate jetport.

Crosspoint is a big new step in Massport's expansion campaign. It would be
Hanscom's third Fixed Base Operator (FBO) - a hangar/passenger terminal/fuel
depot/maintenance facility. With a total size of 91,000 square feet and a
100-car parking lot, it would be bigger than either of the existing FBOs,
and its passenger area (13,000 square feet) would be larger than that of the
existing FBOs and the Civil Air Terminal combined.

To understand how Crosspoint will affect us, you have to know two crucial
facts: 80 percent of Hanscom's noise impact comes from jets, and Crosspoint
will increase Hanscom's jet-handling capacity by more than 50 percent. Jet
flights over our communities have more than tripled in the past decade, from
9,600 in 1995 to more than 33,000 last year. With the added capacity
provided by Crosspoint, jet traffic could easily triple again over the next
12 to 15 years. If you think your neighborhood is safe, think again - many
who are affected by jet noise today had the same misguided sense of security
just a few years ago. Imagine the impact of 100,000 jet flights annually
over our homes, fields and town centers, our children's schools, and our
(and America's) unique places like Walden and Minute Man National Historical
Park.

Furthermore, the proposal includes a 30,000-gallon aboveground jet fuel tank
next to Runway 5's safety zone. The risk of a catastrophic fire caused by a
plane crashing into the tank seems obvious. So does the danger to 19 homes
literally across the street from the fuel depot on Concord's Virginia Road,
and to adjacent residential neighborhoods in Concord and Lincoln. Fire
trucks would have difficulty reaching the scene quickly on Virginia Road, a
narrow, wetland-bordered street with two 90-degree curves and no shoulders.
And Virginia Road would become a truck route for Crosspoint's multiple daily
jet fuel deliveries.

Finally, the Crosspoint facility would be built on land that is part of
Bedford's drinking water supply. The town well it serves is currently closed
due to past contamination, but it's being cleaned up and remains an
important future drinking water source for Bedford. To risk massive new
contamination by building a fueling station over an aquifer makes no sense.

In short, this project would radically increase noise, traffic and air
pollution, threaten drinking water, and create a fire hazard that would
endanger dozens of homes and hundreds of lives. And all of this with no
state environmental review or public comments allowed, and with Massport
hiding the true nature of the project until after it accepted Crosspoint's
proposal.

We, the residents of the four towns, must take a stand against this
outrageous plan. Recent medical research shows health hazards for anyone
living within 6 miles of an airport, so the additional pollution from this
project will affect all of us. It's easy to think that our help is not
needed because the boards of selectmen are on top of the situation. Wrong!
We need to show up at their meetings, show that we care about this issue,
urge them to do everything in their power to stop Crosspoint, and applaud
them when they do. We need to keep sending letters to the newspapers, to
state and federal legislators, and to Gov. Mitt Romney. Massport is ready
to sign the lease with Crosspoint next month, so it's urgent to let
officials know how we feel.

And we need to support ShhAir and Save Our Heritage as they organize the
opposition. Learn more at www.shhair.org and www.saveourheritage.com. They
offer to inform you by e-mail of meetings, rallies, letter-writing
campaigns, etc. The more people get involved, the more effective our
opposition will be.

Margareta Lidskog is a Concord resident.

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