Boston Sunday Globe, NorthWest section
June 29, 2003

Critics boycott Hanscom hearing
Concerns cited on risks of increased air traffic

By Davis Bushnell, Globe Correspondent

Wednesday night's final hearing on the 2005-2015 environmental
blueprint for Hanscom Field had been billed as a face-off between
commercial aviation opponents and state officials, one that would
rival a raucous meeting held last November before an overflow crowd at
Bedford High School.

Instead, some 50 people who are opposed to expanding air service at
Hanscom staged a protest across the street from Bedford Police
headquarters, close to the high school.

Charging that the environmental planning process for the airfield was
flawed, activists encouraged people to boycott the hearing run by
administrators of the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.

Their strategy appeared to work since fewer than three-dozen people
attended the hearing, which started half an hour later in the high
school auditorium.

The final version of the $1.2 million environmental planning report,
prepared by the Massachusetts Port Authority, Hanscom's
owner-operator, is likely to be approved by state environmental
officials. The public comment period ends July 31, and Massport
expects a final certificate of approval to be issued in mid-August.

Last December, then state Environmental Affairs secretary Robert
Durand said Massport's preliminary environmental planning document for
the airport complied with state law. The Environmental Policy Act
comes under the purview of the environmental affairs office.

Although activists say they're resigned to the fact that the
environmental report will be approved, they also say they will
continue to fight against the airport's expansion. Federal Express
Corp. recently revealed that it wants to inaugurate 10 cargo flights a
week out of Hanscom, beginning later this year.

Activists and officials from Bedford (where the airport is located),
Concord, Lexington, and Lincoln have argued that increased air traffic
at Hanscom would adversely affect important historical sites in the
area, where the Revolutionary War began.

''We live on sacred ground, and it's our job to preserve it,'' said
John Petty of Lincoln, the lead-off speaker at last Wednesday's
protest and a volunteer activist working with Save Our Heritage, a
Concord-based historic preservation group.

As Petty spoke, a number of people waved ''No FedEx at Hanscom''
signs.

The event's featured speaker, state Senator Susan Fargo, Democrat of
Lincoln, asserted that FedEx's plans for Hanscom are ''an obscenity
that can't be allowed to happen.'' She said she plans on meeting with
Governor Mitt Romney's aides to discuss land-use planning as it
pertains to Hanscom.

''We have to keep up the good fight, but it's an uphill battle,''
Fargo said, noting that many legislators have a ''Let's sock it to the
suburbs'' attitude about the Bedford airport's issues.

Massport officials have said that any current or planned expansion of
air service at the airfield will not affect the historic landmarks,
and that they have been sensitive to community views in operating the
field.

At the hearing, several people spoke out against the environmental
planning report and airport operations. They included Sara Mattes, a
Lincoln selectwoman and a member of the Hanscom Field Advisory
Commission and the Hanscom Area Towns Committee, and Margaret Coppe of
Lexington, president of the Safeguarding the Historic Hanscom Area's
Irreplaceable Resources group.

Speaking in favor of the airport was John I. Williams Jr., president
of the Massachusetts Business Aviation Association, a nonprofit group
with offices in Concord.

''Hanscom Field supports our regional economy,'' Williams said.
''Massport has made enhancements to the field without any adverse
effects.''

Meanwhile, Mattes, in referring to Massport and its environmental
planning report, said, ''We can't be part of a public relations
campaign to expand Hanscom.'' She then zeroed in on the environmental
planning report. Area officials, she said, provided input on
environmental matters such as noise and traffic that were ignored.
''So this [report] has no purpose,'' she charged.

That also was Coppe's contention. ''Since we haven't seen any changes
in the final [planning] document, we couldn't encourage people to
attend this hearing,'' she said.

Massport spokesman Richard Walsh said in a phone interview Thursday
that changes to the report included altering the way airport noise was
measured and listing 25 sites within the Minute Man National
Historical Park, some of which is next to the airfield, to show that
Massport officials are mindful of the important resources within the
park.

Walsh denied charges that the report process was flawed and pointed
out that Durand said six months ago that the draft of the report
complied with state law.

As for Mattes's charge the environmental report smacks of public
relations, Walsh said the report is a formal document not connected at
all to public relations. ''We would never spend that amount on public
relations,'' he said.


This story ran on page 1 of the Boston Globe NW on 6/29/2003. ©
Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.

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