Aug 31, 2007
Shays continues his effort to get
second hearing on FAA proposal
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by LAURA KENYON
Hersam Acorn Newspapers
Two weeks after the Federal Aviation Administration denied his request for a second public hearing on the proposed airspace redesign project — which could send more planes at lower altitudes over areas of Fairfield County — 4th District U.S. Rep. Christopher Shays is trying again.
“I’ve been doing more than almost any other member of Congress,” Mr. Shays, a Republican, said at a press conference on Aug. 23 when asked about the redesign.
“Because we didn’t want politics to interfere with flight travel, we have created one of the most arrogant organizations that you could possibly imagine,” he added, calling the FAA a “unique breed.”
His request that the FAA hold a public hearing in the Stamford area upon completion of its Final Environmental Impact Statement was denied Aug. 10. A public hearing held in Stamford in April fulfilled the organization’s legal obligations.
“Well, that’s not the end of it. We’re going to do our best to have a hearing,” Mr. Shays said, adding that he will soon travel to Boston to speak with FAA officials there.
“I think they want to railroad through their proposal,” Mr. Shays said about the FAA’s denial of the hearing.
On Aug. 24, Mr. Shays renewed his request in a letter to FAA Administrator Marion C. Blakey.
“I am surprised it took two months to respond to my request for a public forum and doubly surprised that my request was denied,” he wrote. “I had every reason to believe it would be honored since I simply asked that residents have their concerns heard by you or other FAA personnel. These are residents, of course, who will have negatively impacted quality of life and home values because of the absence of mitigation strategies proposed for western Fairfield County under the Integrated Airspace Alternative.”
Mr. Shays has been called by his office an “outspoken critic of the proposal,” saying the plan fails to account for the quality of life impact on communities below the proposed routes.
His attempt — alongside two New Jersey Republican representatives — to block funding for the plan in July failed to win House approval by a vote of 65 to 360.
Efforts continue in New Canaan to collect signatures on a petition to U.S. Senators Christopher Dodd and Joseph Lieberman to convince them to force the FAA to reconsider its plan. Signers need not be New Canaan residents. They must be at least 18 years of age, list their street address with town and state, and their phone number with area code.
Petitions may be signed online at www.ncadvertiser.com by clicking on the latest FAA story.
© Copyright 2008 by Hersam Acorn Newspapers
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