““Tweed Talk in Public Spaces” celebrates one year of advocacy, and you are invited! Neighbors from East Haven, New Haven, Branford, and more will gather on Tuesday, March 21, from 6 to 8 p.m. at Hagaman Memorial Library. Share concerns and reconnect to make your opinion count! The most transformative issue in East Haven, Tweed Airport expansion, just released an environmental assessment document that is available online with a reference copy at Hagaman Library. The local history demands that the Federal Aviation Administration require a more in-depth look called the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), as was done in 2000.

There are valid concerns about air/noise pollution, wetlands, traffic, public health, taxation, encroachment, and eminent domain. East Haven, as an environmental justice town, deserves an EIS to assess the damage, burdens, and effects on asthma, cardiac health, stress and human health, and the surrounding environment. The community benefits plan presented to East Haven was inadequate to address the physical damage to homes that includes cracked foundations, walls, and jet fuel residue on solar panels, public streets, and residential backyards; the low monetary voucher for noise insulation is minuscule. Currently, the 737-800 plane type is the wrong model used for this runway, causing degradation with plane diversions common in a geographical tidal marsh basin that has foggy weather and decibel readings greater than 90 outside the airport. A longer runway will not dissipate the foggy conditions that divert Avelo Airlines planes to Bradley Airport, nor help rising sea levels and flooding.

An in-person public hearing will be held on Saturday, April 1, from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. at East Haven High School. All written comments are due by Sunday, April 16, via email to HVN-EA@mjinc.com or mailed to HVN-EA Public Comments, McFarland Johnson 49 Court Street, Suite 240, Binghamton, NY 13901

Lorena Venegas

East Haven