Bedford Minuteman
June 23, 2005

Letter: Fighting the plan to expand airport

To the editor:

Massport is devoted to a course of action that will destroy this
community and all the historic resources that lie within. As reported in the
Boston Globe on June 19, Massport plans to "expand Hanscom Field's hangar
and office space by more than a third, further establishing the airport as a
hub for corporate travel."

A Woburn-based company, Crosspoint LLC, shares Massport's determination
to bury Walden and the North Bridge under black emission soot and
ear-shattering jet noise. Last year, more than 33,000 private jets ripped
and thundered through our skies at low altitudes. The addition of
Crosspoint's new facility will guarantee more than 100,000 jets in just 10
years.

Our communities have spent decades appealing to Massport to limit the
jet growth at Hanscom. Dire concerns about increasing jet traffic have been
voiced by the citizens of the four towns through unanimous town meeting
votes, by our elected representatives, by Scenic America and the National
Trust for Historic Preservation, by historians Ken Burns and David
McCullough, and many other historians and environmentalists. All have been
met with sarcasm, disrespect, and demeaning dismissal by Massport.

With the announcement of the Crosspoint expansion, the line is now
drawn clearly in the sand. If these towns are to survive with any historical
and environmental integrity intact, we must fight this expansion with every
once of energy and spirit we can muster. To enact federal legislation to
limit the growth of this airport, we need the ardent support of our Governor
and our U.S. Senators. All three have stated, on the record, that they are
opposed to Hanscom Airport expansion. They need to hear from you that one of
America's most historic areas needs to be protected now, before it is too
late.

So before summer vacation begins in earnest, please do what you can to
help. Write directly to our senators and governor, call or stop by our
office to sign our petition, or volunteer an hour or two to help us with our
petition drive around town.

For centuries these towns have symbolized the essence of patriotic and
environmental consciousness and conscience. Let's keep this tradition
honored and alive. Let's save this place we love.

Anna West Winter
Executive Director
Save Our Heritage

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