Demands For FAA To Require ‘Robust’ Tweed Environmental Study Mount

EAST HAVEN, Connecticut — The Federal Aviation Administration said it is waiting for an environmental assessment from the Tweed New Haven Airport Authority before deciding whether a broader study, called an environmental impact statement, is needed.

The airport expansion, which begins in May 2021 as reported by the patch, will require the terminal to be moved to the East Haven side of the property while extending the runway by more than 1,000 feet. The airport authority and the city of New Haven said he would sign his 43-year lease in 2021, and in August, over strong objections from East Haven, a deal was signed between the Goldman Sachs-owned Avports and the authorities. concluded. Read the story here.

The New Haven Independent reported this week that airport authority director Sean Scanlon said he would submit a draft EA to the FAA “probably in a week’s time.”

As of Friday, when the airport announced it was preparing an environmental assessment, years after the masterplan progressed, Tweed had yet to provide a rough assessment to the FAA.

Patch reached out to Scanlon for comment. This post will be updated when a response is received.

Requesting a “robust and detailed” EIS mount

East Haven Mayor Joseph A. Carfora, who is part of a choir that includes Save Our Sound, Friends of the Farm River Estuary, and this week State Senator Christine Cohen of the 12th District, is calling on federal agencies to do more. We are asking for a comprehensive environmental impact statement. Has completed.

District 12 includes areas of East Haven with mudflats, swamps, and coastline.

They all point out that EIS is mandated by the National Environmental Policy Act.

After reaching out to FAA New England Regional Administrator Colleen D’Alessandro, an FAA spokeswoman forwarded the following statement:

“The Tweed-New Haven Airport Authority has contracted consultants to prepare an environmental review, and the FAA has independently evaluated the data to ensure it is consistent with NEPA regulations and FAA Order 1050.1F. Environmental impacts are covered by the broader Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).The FAA monitors environmental reviews of proposed projects in line with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and other special purpose laws. ”

The FAA does not call this an Environmental Assessment (EA) or Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), but rather an “Environmental Review”.

Back in 2008, the FAA stated that the patch was “much smaller and had a significant environmental impact” for construction of the runway safety area and on-site taxiway reconstruction, realignment, and southward expansion. It needed an EIS for what town officials said was “a very small airport project.” For records and East Haven officials.

The FAA issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) in October 1999 and a final version in 2000, according to court documents obtained by Patch.

“And it required EIS preparations for a similar activity proposed at Stratford’s Igor I. Sikorsky Memorial Airport,” Karfora wrote in a letter to the FAA.

“Given that (expansion) projects include significant vehicular traffic impacts, including runway extensions, construction in sensitive coastal areas and wetlands, and constructive use of critical town parks. And in struggling municipalities, we need consistency with the FAA and the same for this project.”

The FAA said on its website, “We are aware of past and present controversies regarding proposed improvements at this airport.”

“Once the appropriate level of NEPA documentation has been determined, the airport, with the assistance of the FAA, will implement community engagement opportunities where appropriate communication channels exist with the community. FAA review of proposed projects The timeline for is conditional.Upon receipt of the first EA from airport authorities.”

The ecosystem surrounding tweed

Patch last week took a tour of the area surrounding Tweed on both sides of East Haven and New Haven, including wetlands, tidal flats, creeks, creeks and shoreline refuge areas.

State Senate Speaker on the Environment Commission, Cohen was named the 2021 Legislative Champion by the Connecticut Local Government Council for her work and leadership on environmental policy. She said the area in and around the airport “consists of inland and tidal flats, reserves, beaches and parks, important ecosystems that, without protection, could endanger the local flora and fauna.” is part of the

While she applauds “increased economic development and connectivity through modernized transportation options,” she puts pressure on federal agencies to dig deeper.

“We fear that the Tweed Airport environmental assessment will not be sufficient to explore the full range of impacts on our communities. and given the scope and impression of this project, it is the only way to proceed.The need to dig deeper and perform due diligence to truly understand the short and long-term implications of this planned expansion. there is…”

Read the letter here:

this is. Cohen Tweed Airport NO… by Ellyn Santiago

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Save The Sound, Farm River Estuary Group Request EIS

In April 2022, Save the Sound first called on the FAA to demand more “robust” environmental studies, stating that “the planned expansion raises serious environmental concerns…” was a company.

Read the letter here:

Save The Sound Tweed Letter… by Ellyn Santiago

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Also last week, Friends of the Farm River Estuary wrote to the FAA’s New England Regional Director, sharing “concerns about the proposed Tweed expansion and the need for an EIS.”

Given that the Farm River Estuary is mentioned only once in the Tweed Expansion Master Plan, it argues that it “does not show or describe the estuary and its unique characteristics.”

“There is nothing in the master plan to suggest that the authorities have considered the potential impact of the proposed expansion on the estuary,” the letter read, adding, “Including a careful analysis of the foreseeable, the proposed We strongly urge the FAA to require a robust and complete EIS for tweed extensions that are designed to reduce environmental and public health impacts on estuaries and surrounding communities.”

Read the letter here:

FFRE Tweed Extended Letter… by Ellyn Santiago

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Location of the town of East Haven

In a letter to Tweed Director Scanlon dated Oct. 18, East Haven’s Mayor Carfora said the authorities are not only in East Haven, but also in New Haven, to the environment of the extension to the wetlands outside the fence of the airport grounds. said to ignore the impact of .

“We now know from both public sources and private confidential discussions that mapping the impacted wetlands is not the impact that this project will have on the wetlands on the airport property, but rather the mapping of the impacted wetlands. We possess the information we directed to evaluate only the areas outside the airport affecting densely populated residential areas, including potentially life-saving evacuation routes, in both New Haven and East Haven is,” he writes.

“We should be more concerned that an accurate and truthful portrayal of what is happening around this expansion has not been provided to the FAA, Connecticut. Accurate information,” Calfora wrote.