"New Logan runway could take giant step forward this week"

Friday, June 8, 2001

New Logan runway could take giant step forward this week
By Leslie Miller


BOSTON (AP) Nearly three decades after it was first proposed, the
Massachusetts Port Authority may soon get the go-ahead for a new runway at
Logan International Airport.

The plan has infuriated area residents, but earned the ardent support of the
state's business community.

State environmental officials could announce on June 19 seven working days
after the public comment period ends that it approves Massport's report that
claims new runway will not cause any environmental damage. That would open
the door for a construction permit.

''We need a new runway,'' Massport spokesman Jose Juves said. ''That will
solve 30 percent of our delay problems.''

The Federal Aviation Administration, which must also approve the runway,
recently ranked Logan as the fifth worst in the nation for delays. Massport
says a new runway would give the airport a second option for landings and
takeoffs during northwest winds.

Opponents are looking at LaGuardia Airport in New York for signs the FAA
would consider an alternative to a new runway. The FAA is expected to
announce a program early next week to manage aircraft demand and reduce
congestion there, said Mary Ellen Welch, a community activist in East
Boston. Welch hopes that will signify a willingness to embrace a similar
approach at Logan.

If Massport gets state and FAA approval, it would then ask the courts to
lift a 25-year-old injunction that would allow construction to begin. The
runway would be operational at the end of 2003.

''The basis of the injunction was that no environmental process was filed,''
Juves said. ''For the past six years, there has been an exhaustive and
extensive public review and analysis.''

To help make its case, Massport on Thursday sent 5,000 comments on the
runway to the Massachusetts Environmental Protection Agency. Of those, 4,800
are favorable, Juves said.

One comment, from Stuart of Chestnut Hill, read, ''I fly weekly and am
constantly late.''

Community activists, who view a new runway as an unnecessary strip of
concrete that will wreak havoc on 45 cities and towns, would like state
environmental officials to decide that the environmental report needs more
work.

They'd like the FAA to institute peak-period pricing to discourage smaller
aircraft from flying in and out of Logan during busy times, an approach
Massport supports in conjunction with a new runway.

Peak-period pricing was in effect briefly during the Michael S. Dukakis
administration, Welch said. ''It was remarkable how it worked,'' she said.

Community activists are also hoping the state's Congressional delegation,
led by U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, a Somerville Democrat, can persuade the
FAA to oppose the runway.

If that fails, they'll fight to keep the injunction against new
construction.

The runway opponents clout was weakened with the death of U.S. Rep. Joseph
Moakley, who led the fight against the runway.

''I'm convinced the runway would never happen if he were still alive,'' she
said.

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