"Air-quality monitors in place, RI airport says"

Tuesday, May 1, 2007

Air-quality monitors in place, airport says
By Cynthia Needham
The Providence (RI) Journal


WARWICK — In mid-March, Attorney General Patrick C. Lynch, irked that the
state Airport Corporation had ignored a state law mandating an air-quality
monitoring system at T.F. Green, gave the agency 45 days to install
temporary monitors or face court action.

Yesterday, in a statement accusing the agency of playing “stalling games,”
Lynch gave it until Friday to explain why the temporary monitors hadn’t been
installed.

The response came quickly: The monitors have been installed, and they are up
and running, the Airport Corporation announced.

In his demand to the corporation, Lynch declared, “It appears what we’ve
been saying doesn’t mean anything to you. We have been waiting a significant
amount of time and it appears you are playing a stalling game.” While not
repeating his threat of legal action, he accused the agency of failing to be
“a good corporate citizen.”

Later yesterday, Lynch’s spokesman, Michael J. Healey, backed off a bit.
“It’s probably a start, but I’d be pretty surprised, given the context of
RIAC’s performance over the past two or three years if it’s a solution that
will be beneficial to as many people as possible,” he said.

But Healey acknowledged that a site visit would settle the question, and he
said the office would do that within a few days.

In 2004, the General Assembly gave the Airport Corporation 2½ years to set
up a permanent system of air-quality monitors at and around T.F. Green
Airport. The deadline came and went with no action — airport officials said
pending studies and other issues were the reason — and Lynch, in March,
began applying pressure. With the temporary monitors in place, at three
locations, the next step is to install a permanent system by September.

Airport lawyer Richard Licht yesterday said that Rhode Island Analytical
Labratories, of Warwick, has installed the three temporary stations. “We are
up and running and monitoring for everything in the law,” Licht said.

The attorney general, meanwhile, says the 2004 law was “vanilla” and he has
backed new legislation that would expand the scope of the original order and
offer greater details for compliance.

Meanwhile, as Licht pointed out last night, the statute on the books is the
one with which the Airport Corporation must comply. 

“For the moment, the law is the law and we are monitoring everything in the
law at three different locations,” he said.

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