BostonHerald.com
Wednesday, May 16, 2001

Protesters shut down Hanscom meeting
by Greg Gatlin

The Massachusetts Port Authority, along with airlines looking to expand at
Hanscom Field in Bedford, got an icy response the last time they headed into
the suburbs to air their plans.

Anti-airline activists boycotted a meeting with area selectmen in Concord
last month after holding a candlelit protest vigil outside.

Things got more feisty last night, as hundreds of Hanscom Field neighbors
jammed Bedford Town Hall to protest further expansion of commercial service
to the suburban airport.

About 90 minutes into the tense session, nearly 400 activists shouted down a
meeting of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission, forcing it to adjourn.

"Take off and don't come back!" the protesters shouted to end the meeting.
One official present likened the outburst to a "near riot."

Earlier, many residents of neighboring Lexington, Concord and Lincoln spoke
out against increased use of the former military airfield by commercial
carriers.

But one woman from Concord, Edie Sisson, took the crowd by surprise,
defending the use of the field by commerical carriers.  Describing herself
as a farmer, teacher and conservationist, she said the issue boiled down to
fairness.

"If you and I want to fly, we cannot . . . rationalize that some other
community should bear the brunt of the problems created in part by our own
need for an airport," she said to shouts and boos from neighbors.

Afterward, the shaken woman said, "I have never witnessed an audience like
that.  I have never seen manners like that in my life."

At the meeting, airline officials tried to present plans to add or increase
service from the field.  But activists complained that the noise and
increased traffic would disrupt the nearby Minute Man National Historical
Park.  The Battle Road is the main route travelers take to get to the
airport.

"We don't want you to come," one resident shouted during an airline
presentation.  Long applause greeted the outburst.

"We're trying to come and listen to the community," Thomas M. Hanley, a US
Airways Express vice president, said afterward.  "We're not sure the
community is interested in a dialogue."

At issue is what some residents say is a lack of meaningful dialogue between
Massport, which runs Hanscom, and airline opponents, who say an increasing
number of flights from the suburban airport will harm nearby historic sites.

But a Massport official last night also lamented the lack of any real
dialogue.

The advisory panel, said Massport's Richard Walsh, "was created to provide a
forum for dialogue, not for a near riot."

The advisory commission advises Massport on Hanscom issues. But members have
long complained that Massport doesn't listen to their concerns.

US Airways confirmed yesterday that it plans to fly turboprop aircraft
between Bedford and Philadelphia and New York's LaGuardia Airport.

Boston-Maine Airways, an affiliate of Pan American Airlines Corp., and
Midway Airlines Corp. also plan to add flights. Boston-Maine would fly eight
round-trips between the Cape and Islands and Bedford, while Midway would fly
to North Carolina. And bankrupt airline Shuttle America Inc. said Monday
that it plans to relaunch its LaGuardia service June 15.

If all those airlines receive the necessary approvals, Hanscom would see as
many as 70 commercial takeoffs and landings a day, far in excess of the
threshold of 48, which Massport has said would trigger an environmental
review.

Massport Spokesman Jose Juves reaffirmed that environmental review
yesterday.

But Marty Aisenberg, a spokesman for activist group Save Our Heritage, says
the number means nothing at all. There is no cap, he says. Simply, there is
an assertion by Massport that it will conduct a voluntary review of some
kind.

"It's meaningless,'' Aisenberg said. ``That's the whole problem.''


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