Tue, Apr 06, 2004
Residents Use "Questionable" Data To Fight Airport
Expansion
Worried that an
expanded airport will mean more noise and more pollution, folks who
live in Livermore and Pleasanton (CA) are mobilizing against
Livermore Municipal, supporting their claims with data that airport
officials say is incorrect.
"The airport plan is not about turning this airport into a huge
commercial enterprise," said airport manager Leander Hauri in an
interview with the Freemont Argus.
But that's just what opponents claim. A flyer handed out by the
Livermore Airport Community Group says the number of take-offs and
landings will increase by 90-percent. The flyer says there's
"nothing the city can do to prevent a larger amount of large
jets."
C'mon, says Hauri. Right now, Livermore Municipal handles about
200,000 flights a year. While the high-end number of flights that
will be accommodated by the expansion is pegged at 370,000, Hauri
says that number will probably never be reached.
The plan calls for extending the shorter of Livermore's two
runways, construction of new hangars (about 180 aircraft owners are
now on a waiting list) and leasing out space surrounding the
airport to interested businesses -- most of them aviation-oriented.
Hauri says there are no plans at all to start scheduled service
from Livermore.
But opponents just
don't see it that way. "Property values will go down and we will
have a lower quality of life," said Greg Takemura, who lives in
Livermore.
Tom Hagen, who lives near Pleasanton, agrees. "I say there is a
noise problem right now. I think the noise problem will be worse if
they double the amount of aircraft in the air. The noise will be
worse and the safety issues will be worse. Basically, what these
people are doing is putting their enjoyment over the quality of
life of the tens of thousands who are affected by that noise."
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