Lincoln Journal
Wednesday, July 9, 2003

Letter: FedEx actions eyed by airport activists

The more I learn of the FedEx plans to start cargo operations at Hanscom Field, the more I realize what a disaster this will be for our towns and our historic environs, which we serve as custodians.

FedEx proposes to start with one Airbus 300 (equivalent to a 737, which will arrive after 5 p.m. and leave before 11 p.m. Twenty-eight freight truck trips (not the little FedEx delivery trucks, but the big guys, 18-wheelers and such) will be required to unload and re-load each flight. And this is just the beginning. If FedEx starts up, it can expand as it wishes. And competitors can, and will, follow with their own operations.

It seems crazy for anyone to think that Hanscom is the place for commercial cargo, with its only access over the Battle Road and its flight paths over our historic communities, Old North Bridge and Walden Pond. But Massport is oblivious to the harm it is doing to our environment by expanding this airport for commercial use.

We who live here must wake up and start to shout our objections to every elected official we know. If we wait until our summer vacations are over, we will be too late. The Massport board votes on this proposal in September. Watch the History Channel this Saturday night at 8 p.m. It will air a special program on the National Trust's "11 most endangered historic places," featuring Minute Man National Historical Park with its threat from Hanscom civilian airport expansion.

John Williams
Garland Road

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