|
Environmentalists want to put a plan to expand capacity at Hanscom airport for private jets — which are among the most egregious polluters — on standby. A review process of environmental concerns is about to kick off this fall.
Developers selected by Massport to build out the half-million-acre project that includes 27 hangars for private aircraft are expected to file a draft Environmental Impact Review with the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act office today, though the deadline is not a hard one.
Since the project is on Massport land, Lexington Sen. Michael Barrett said grassroots pressure is the opposed public’s best chance at blocking the runway.
“If Massport says yes to this, Hanscom, an institution in our own backyard, becomes a super-emitter,” Sen. Michael Barrett wrote in a recent letter to constituents. Lexington abuts the Bedford-based airfield.
Massport, which selected developers for the project last year via an RFP process, appears on board for the project and has pushed aside concerns that more space for private jets could send emissions in the wrong direction.
The quasi-state agency has said “it is not assumed that there will be a resulting increase in carbon emissions” as a result of the project. But opponents say history and a so-called “fuel farm” slated for construction at the nearby Navy hangar offer a different narrative.
Amid climate change concerns, environmental advocates argue the state shouldn’t authorize any project that could boost transportation emissions, which account for about 43 percent of all greenhouse gasses produced in Massachusetts — 7 percent from aviation.
Last night members of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission were largely opposed to the project, citing environmental concerns. They referenced a May report that found private jets emit more than 10 times more pollutants than commercial planes per passenger — accounting for a disproportionately high amount of the sector’s climate impact, according to a May report.
Whether the opposition works remains to be seen. Massport — like other state agencies — trump local authority, especially when it comes to public transportation and energy infrastructure impacts.
Send tips to Erin Tiernan [email protected]. For advertising and general inquiries, contact Dylan Rossiter: [email protected]. Click here to post a job on the MASSterList Job Board. Follow @MASSterList on Twitter. Did someone send you this edition? Subscribe here!
| 
