Concord Journal
October 6, 2005

Letter: Crosspoint a direct threat

To the editor:

I write to you as a citizen, committed to protecting the historic,
environmental and social fabric of our community. The Massachusetts
Environmental Protection Agency recently decided that proposals to Massport
by Crosspoint, Inc. to construct a new and enlarged facility on the site of
the old hanger 24 at Hanscom was unworthy of a new and detailed
environmental impact study. The new facility will contain a passenger
terminal not considered by MEPA, in its wisdom, as a passenger terminal
because Crosspoint chooses to label it a "passenger service area."

Allowed to go forward, the Crosspoint facility poses a direct threat to
the surrounding and sensitive wetlands of Concord; will dramatically
increase the number of flights in and out of the facility; will blanket the
surrounding area with both air and noise pollution; will increase
substantially the traffic along the narrow and winding Virginia Road and,
given the location of above-ground gasoline storage tanks, pose a real
safety threat to the surrounding neighborhood.

All this exposes a number of troubling shortcomings in the operation of
agencies and offices supposedly designed to protect its citizenry. First, it
is clear that Gov. Mitt Romney cannot be trusted to live up to campaign
promises that he would oppose expansion at Hanscom. Second, that MEPA, as a
result of budgetary cuts or pure politics, does not have the fortitude to
meet its statutory obligations and finally, that Massport is a rogue agency,
determined to have its way regarding Hanscom, no matter what the
consequences for historic sites, environmental treasures or citizen health
and safety.

If, in years past, you were opposed to FedEx expansion at Hanscom
because of its impact on our region, hold on to your hat because, should
Crosspoint by given a free and uncontrolled "pass" in the days ahead, as the
great Al Jolsen used to say, "You ain't seen nothin' yet."

It appears clear to me that, given the failure of state government to
protect our rights, we must turn to the federal government for relief. I
encourage you to write, call, e-mail and otherwise make your opinions known
to all of our representatives in Washington with an eye to containing growth
at Hanscom given its unique and sensitive location. If ever there was an
issue about which we should raise some dust and rattle some windows, this is
it.

Philip Benincasa
Commerford Road

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