Letter to the editor: Henry Francis on “irresponsible” Jet Aviation plan

To the editor:

I attended the February 19 and March 12 public hearings on Jet Aviation’s proposal to expand its Hanscom hanger facilities, which were sponsored by the Lincoln Conservation Commission. These were working business meetings of the commission to which the public were invited.

The commission is concerned with the issue of proposed Jet Aviation construction encroaching on a few acres of Lincoln wetlands. It appears that Jet Aviation will successfully conform to the commission’s requirements, and will therefore be permitted to proceed with their project. However, this is not the issue of importance to most citizens. We the people feel strongly that increasing Hanscom’s total hangar area, in order to house and service more of the dirtiest type of aircraft (as measured by amount of fuel burned and carbon emitted per passenger-mile), is totally irresponsible by any conceivable standard.

There is a striking dichotomy here between the will of the people and the presumed approval of this project, and I am deeply disappointed that the commission  members all were excessively deferential and accommodating to the Jet Aviation representatives and their proposal, in spite of the totally obvious fact that the many citizens in attendance unanimously and angrily oppose the project—there was not one comment from the invited public in support of Jet Aviation.

At what level of environmental pollution (both chemical and acoustic) do we draw the line? The line should be drawn right now—Jet Aviation should not be permitted to expand their Hanscom facilities to accommodate more jets, and we, the people, expect the (our?) Lincoln Conservation Commission to recognize and support this position. This project, and indeed the entire Hanscom expansion juggernaut, should be axed as soon as possible.

Sincerely,

Henry Francis
Sunnyside Lane

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