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The brief, filed at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, asks the judges to halt the new flight pattern plan and order the FAA to redo it. Blumenthal filed the brief on behalf of the state Department of Environmental Protection, and with The Alliance for Sensible Air Planning, a coalition of 10 Connecticut cities and towns, and nine other plaintiffs. Blumenthal will be outlining and explaining the brief on Monday, September 15 at a 7:30 p.m. meeting at the Wilton Library. Blumenthal said, “The FAA flouted federal law by failing to fully consider noise, pollution and other impacts of new flight paths. This plan reflects unfounded assumptions, selective omissions and outright denial of facts. In a sleight of hand, the agency considered each impact separately instead of cumulatively -- as they would actually affect residents and fragile wildlife areas -- severely skewing its conclusions. The agency’s refusal to adequately assess harmful impacts of increasing air traffic deeply discredits the flight path plan. The FAA refused to consider alternatives, including reconfiguring flight schedules to eliminate congestion. “These flight paths will bombard residents, sensitive wildlife areas and state parks with noise and pollution, damaging air quality and quality of life. They must be rescinded to protect the environment, our precious state parks and our neighborhoods. We will fight to rescind these defective flight paths and force the FAA to rewrite the plan.” The brief outlines the negative impacts of the flight paths on Connecticut, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania. It alleges that the FAA’s approval process violated federal law by failing to: • Fully disclose or consider the impact on air quality and on state efforts to reduce air pollution; • Fully assess and inform the public of noise impacts; • Factor in the environmental impact from increased air traffic that will result from the new flight paths; • Analyze alternatives, including better management of existing flight patterns; • Consider the cumulative impact of noise, air quality and other factors. Instead, the FAA weighed each factor in isolation; • Consider noise impact on state parks and wildlife areas in Connecticut and other states; • Assess disproportionate noise and air quality impacts on minority communities in New Jersey located near the flight paths. The brief reads in part, “The project’s history is infected with a long list of legal shortcomings that includes gaps in the administrative record and repeated failures to meet express statutory duties. These violations prevented 30 million people living throughout the 31,180 square miles in five states covered by the project area from fully understanding how the project will affect the air they breathe, the noise they experience and the parks they enjoy. The FAA’s unauthorized shortcuts around the requirements of the NEPA (National Environmental Policy Act) can lead to only one conclusion -- that the record fails to provide a rational connection between the facts and the choices made by the FAA in approving the project.” Coalition for Sensible Air Planning members are: New Canaan, Greenwich, Ridgefield, Weston, Wilton, Norwalk, Darien, Stamford, Redding and Westport. Also filing the brief were: Rockland County, New York; Delaware County, Pennsylvania; Timbers Civic Association; Friends of Rockefeller State Park Preserve; Bergen County, N.J.; the town of Teaneck, N.J.; The New Jersey and Union County Freeholders Air Traffic and Noise Advisory Board; the town of Elizabeth, N.J. and The New Jersey Coalition Against Aircraft Noise. © Copyright by StamfordPlus.com. Some articles and pictures posted on our website, as indicated by their bylines, were submitted as press releases and do not necessarily reflect the position and opinion of StamfordPlus.com, Stamford Plus magazine, Canaiden LLC or any of its associated entities. Articles may have been edited for brevity and grammar. Related Articles: Area artists open studios for 2nd annual Holiday Art Trail - Sep 15, 2008 - 6:41 AM “Dateline NBC” journalist Chris Hansen to speak on internet crime - Sep 11, 2008 - 11:53 AM Connecticut fire crew heads to California to help U.S. Forest Service fight wildfires - Jul 2, 2008 - 4:34 PM Hundreds raise a glass to Stamford Museum & Nature Center at Flights of Fancy Wine Tasting - Jun 18, 2008 - 4:32 PM CURRENT HEADLINES: Top of Page
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