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 SATURDAY, MARCH 13, 2010 5:44 am |
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Local News 
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Endgame near on airport flight debate? Public response will frame next stage of Paine Field battle Hundreds of people over the past month have voiced their opinions at meetings or through letters on air passenger service at Paine Field.Today is the last day to submit comments on an environmental study on airline service. Next week, federal aviation officials will begin sifting through the roughly 700 comments to decide if more issues should be addressed. This will take at least until March and probably longer, said Cayla Morgan, an environmental protection specialist at the FAA's Northwest Mountain regional office in Renton. If they do order more work, Morgan said, the odds are against it becoming the high-end review being called for by those who oppose regular commercial flights at the airport. The 86-page study was done in response to two proposals of service by two airlines. Horizon Air of Seattle wants to fly four times a day to Portland, Ore., and twice per day to Spokane, using 75-seat Bombardier Q400 turboprop airplanes on both routes. Allegiant Air of Las Vegas has said it plans to fly twice a week to Las Vegas, using 150-seat McDonnell Douglas MD-83 jet aircraft. The study concluded that this number of flights would not significantly affect noise, air quality or auto traffic in the communities around Paine Field. The airport, owned and operated by Snohomish County, currently caters mostly to private planes, flights to support Boeing operations and occasional military flights. The environmental assessment, as the study is called, focused on the effects of the flights proposed by the two airlines so far over a five-year period. Because federal law says an airport operator may not ban further flights once the airport begins commercial service, the study should have examined that ultimate-case scenario, said Greg Hauth, vice president of Save Our Communities, a Mukilteo-based group that has led the fight against commercial service. Morgan said if another airline were to request service, another environmental review of some type could be done on that plan, depending on the proposal. If an airline such as Horizon or Allegiant were to decide to expand its operations and add flights, however, no study would be required, she said. That's the problem, Hauth said. “We call it incrementalism,” he said. “It's really disingenuous to say we'll do another environmental assessment if another airline comes in when the current airlines can expand without limit.” Because the study doesn't address the potential for additional flights, an environmental impact statement — the most thorough type of environmental review — should be required, Hauth said. It should consider potential effects for 20 years out, he said. Morgan said in the 20 years she's been doing her job, she's never seen an EIS ordered following an assessment of the type done for Paine Field. “That's not to say that it hasn't happened,” she said. Further study within the environmental assessment process, however, has occurred often, she said. Morgan said about 10 people in the FAA's Renton office, including herself, were involved in the original decision to do an assessment rather than an EIS. “We understand generally what this type of increase would result in,” she said. On the other side of the issue, flight proponents testified and submitted comments on the study as well. The group Fly Paine Field rounded up experts in areas such as auto traffic and land use and had an attorney look over their written comments, said Greg Tisdel, a spokesman for the group. Their experts agreed with the study's conclusions that the flights would cause little effect on traffic and air quality around the airport, Tisdel said. Noise, he said, “is just one of those things that's subjective to some folks.” Allegiant and Horizon submitted their requests for service at Paine Field in May and October 2008, respectively. Spokespeople for the two airlines said this week they are still interested in providing service at the airport. Bill Sheets: 425-339-3439; sheets@heraldnet.com. Have your say Today is the last day to comment on the draft environmental assessment done regarding commercial air service at Paine Field. The study is available at www.painefield.com Written comments may be sent to airserviceeacomments@snoco.org or cayla.morgan@faa.gov. |
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COMMENTS
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"Morgan said in the 20 years she's been doing her job, she's never seen an EIS ordered following an assessment of the type done for Paine Field."
In other words, it's a rubber stamp process. Comment all you want, this will get an environmental green light. However, local politicians would do well to heed the overwhelming volume of "nays" vs. "yays" if they value their careers (and so far I haven't seen any action to back up the county's stated position of "discouragement...").
Save your energy for the lawsuits.
Mojojojo | Feb 5, 2010 9:51 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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A city the size of Everett should have and need these type of flights. in and out of the city, you bought homes near a airport, guess what PAE has been there fromabout the 1940's you boughtr a home that is buy a runway, things grow this is something that will help the city and Snohomish County grow.
Ken Simmons | Feb 5, 2010 8:04 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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Hopefully my internet comet get in the the record for consideration. I wrote this Airport would create a national Security risk, operating this close a
major US Navy Carrier the Abraham Lincoln and other bases in the area.
Bobby Bluedog | Feb 5, 2010 6:47 pm | 0 replies | Request removal
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When the MRD was signed.
This battle hasn't even begun. You can hang your hat on that!
Henry Stephanson | Feb 5, 2010 8:53 am | 2 replies | Request removal
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You people keep talking about this dumb document that was wrote over 30 years ago. Things change. This is not the same place it use to be 30 years ago.
david kirby | Feb 05, 2010 10:27 am | Request removal
If the MRD is just a "dumb document" after only 30 years as MR Kirby suggests, imagine how stupid the over 230 year old costitution is!
Victor Coupez | Feb 05, 2010 4:01 pm | Request removal
The final resolution or conclusion of a controversy.
In legal use, determination usually implies the conclusion of a dispute or lawsuit by the rendering of a final decision. After consideration of the facts, a determination is generally set forth by a court of justice or other type of formal decision maker, such as the head of an administrative agency.
Determination has been used synonymously with adjudication, award, decree, and judgment. A ruling is a judicial determination concerning matters, such as the admissibility of evidence or a judicial or an administrative interpretation of a statute or regulation.
See you in court Snohomish County!
Henry Stephanson | Feb 5, 2010 8:59 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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2 jets + 2 propeller additional flights is seriously NO BIG DEAL. ---Heck, 50 more jet flights is no big deal considering the 400-600 flights that take off & land each day.
This so called "controversy" is nothing more than an east coast Salem Witch Hunt fueled with ignorance, politics, & a lot of armchair wannabee's ---including Mukilteo's Mayor, Mike Marine.
Boo hoo.
As i have posted several times before.... i can not wait until the day i can have someone drop me off at Paine Field, so that i can catch a frikin flight out of here in due time. I don't care what city i end up in, as long as it's not Sea-Tac!
cme everett | Feb 5, 2010 1:52 am | 0 replies | Request removal
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