$70,000 To Join Lawsuit—

Selectmen Split 2-1 In Favor Of Opposing FAA Flight Plan Changes

By John Voket

Pointing out the issue has been in a holding pattern for nearly six weeks, the Board of Selectmen agreed to authorize payment to enter into class action against the federal government after a split vote Tuesday evening.

With First Selectman Joseph Borst in opposition, the board agreed to join with more than a dozen other towns and the state against the Federal Aviation Administration’s proposed changes to major aircraft flight patterns that litigants contend would greatly increase aircraft traffic and noise, compromising safety and quality of life across the region.

Ridgefield First Selectman Rudy Marconi came to Newtown January 7 to brief selectmen on efforts to overturn FAA plans to reroute up to 150 commercial airline flight a day over southwestern Connecticut. The neighboring official estimated Newtown’s total buy-in to help fund legal defense and a Washington, D.C., lobby would ultimately require about $70,000.

Mr Marconi, who chairs the Alliance for Sensible Airspace Planning (AFSAP), said the town’s initial cost to participate in a multi-jurisdictional consortium including numerous Connecticut and Westchester County, N.Y., communities is $30,000.

The idea to cluster affected communities together to mount legal and political action against the FAA proposal is supported by state Attorney General Richard Blumenthal, who is suing the government agency on behalf of the Department of Environmental Protection, and Governor M. Jodi Rell.

Selectmen Paul Mangiafico and Herb Rosenthal agreed to keep the invitation to join the consortium active on their agenda while Mr Borst completed some fact-finding about local air traffic, a mission that brought him to the control tower at Oxford Airport last Monday.

Mr Borst told his fellow selectmen that after talking with tower control personnel, he learned that currently visual separation of general aviation aircraft requires a buffer of more than three miles horizontally, but that traffic’s minimum ceiling is only 1,500 feet above Newtown.

The first selectman also expressed surprise when talking with The Bee before the meeting that visual fight rules do not require any minimum visual separation vertically in clear conditions.

“I guess vertical you can get as close as you want,” he said.

Mr Borst said according to his conversation with Oxford Airport personnel, it is only during instrument operation that both the three-mile horizontal and a 1,000-foot vertical separation is required between any aircraft. He reiterated these points to the full board Tuesday.

He also gathered additional information about probable noise impact, indicating that the worst increases were projected on the western side of Newtown. He said the FAA standard of 65 decibels is the threshold above which aircraft noise would be deemed incompatible with residential areas.

But according to his research, Mr Borst said the maximum anticipated decibel levels of incoming or departing commercial air traffic over certain areas of Newtown would be between 30.2 and 37.5 decibels.

“Forty decibels is the equivalent [level] of [ambient] sound in a bedroom,” Mr Borst said. He added that current air traffic noise levels versus the levels expected if the flight paths have changes would increase the average maximum decibel level by five.

Mr Borst said New Milford has not signed up as of yet and Brookfield has declined to join the class action. Mr Rosenthal countered that while New Milford is monitoring the effort, officials there have not decided to decline an invitation to join the effort yet.

Mr Rosenthal continued that while he was first selectman, he received numerous complaints and calls noting increased air traffic and noise. Mr Mangiafico indicated that the current board had already voted to join pending the outcome of Mr Borst’s fact finding, and pointed out one of his own constituent’s concerns about flight path levels.

Mr Borst said he was not inclined to join until the budget season was completed. Mr Rosenthal said he was not happy about spending $70,000 either, but the board had already agreed to support the effort.

Mr Borst suggested the town join the consortium but hold off on paying the $30,000 required entry cost to join the action, but Mr Mangiafico said his recollection the payment must be made concurrently with the town joining.

“I certainly don’t want to be left out in the cold and have our residents feel we didn’t do anything to protect them,” Mr Rosenthal said. Mr Mangiafico then said based on the facts at hand, he would support participating the consortium and to authorize the ultimate contribution of $70,000 on behalf of the town.

Mr Mangiafico and Mr Rosenthal then endorsed the motion, which carried 2-1.

The state’s action was launched soon after FAA plans were revealed late last fall. While the consortium that Newtown is joining is focusing more on safety and noise issues, the state’s action is aimed at potential environmental harm the added commercial flights could wreak on Fairfield and Litchfield Counties.

According to the governor, who resides in Brookfield, the FAA Redesign Plan would bring unacceptable impacts to Connecticut and particularly to this region of the state.

“We will do everything we can to derail this plan,” Gov Rell said of the multifaceted effort between the state and communities in the consortium. “Working together, we were able to save our sub base. And working together, we can save our air space.

“Increased noise levels and emissions from more planes flying lower will damage our quality of life, our environment, and potentially the property taxes in the affected towns,” the governor added.

The attorney general said that the FAA failed to acknowledge, let alone consider, the impact of increased noise on southwestern Connecticut residents and state parks. In doing so, the FAA violated the National Environmental Policy Act, which requires the agency to consider noise impacts when rerouting flights.

“Safety and efficiency are critical, but the FAA can relieve airport congestion without bombarding southeastern Connecticut with the roar of low-flying aircraft,” Mr Blumenthal said. “We will fight to force complete revision of these flight paths to reduce noise pollution and environmental damage.”

Mr Blumenthal said that the FAA should revise landing and takeoff angles, minimum altitudes, and management of nighttime flights to reduce the impact of the new flight paths.