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A Sustainable Airport Expansion

When my daughter was younger, she was hospitalized with asthma; it was terrifying. I've seen a map of pediatric hospitalization rates from asthma, and the highest incidence was a plume stretching over the airport and over my house in East Haven. We don't need an Environmental Assessment (EA) to tell us that when a jet takes off, it dumps carcinogen particles and particulates that can cause death and disease. The American lung association just gave New Haven County air quality an F.

That being said, I've enjoyed flying out of Tweed since the '80s and appreciate how accessible Avelo has made my mom in Florida. I don't think four daily regional flights to Philly for connections met our needs, but I do think more regional flights, maybe to another connecting airport like JFK, would be enough.

I'm in favor of a sustainable airport expansion but under certain conditions. First, there must be a carbon cap. If Tweed wants to grow, it must decarbonize through carbon capture, SAF (fuel), smaller planes, limited flights, or the adoption of electric and hybrid planes five or six years out. Next, we must have a train station on the frontage road to offset the airport and support it. Train travel is the most efficient form of travel, and East Haven is the only town between Old Saybrook and New York without a station. A parking garage at the station can serve all of the long-term airport parking. The rail passengers and parkers can take shuttles to the airport alleviating traffic congestion.

The airport is an incredible resource to have; modernizing it and building a train station would serve all of our community but an unregulated expansion that brings no benefits to our town and endangers our health and quality of life must not be allowed.

Edwin Salmon

East Haven