"Ding" -Southwest Enters PHL Market We still haven't heard an answer to the question (below - highlighted in red)? I admit "take over" might be a tad harsh.....how about we replace "take over" with:

1) "potentially produce concentrated pollution because flight routes are fixed along a single line which unfairly compromises the air quality for people within the vicinity of that concentrated path"
or
2) "create such excessive noise conditions along concentrated flight paths that residents can not enjoy living in their homes, and experience increase anxiety and rage"
or
3) Increase risk of death or injury to "groundlings" *1 (residents) living under single concentrated flight paths.

*1 K.M. Thompson, R.F. Rabouw, and R.M. Cooke, 2001. "The risk of groundling fatalities from airplanes." Risk Analysis. 21(6):1025-1037.

The question is not rhetorical any more. Maybe the multiple choice below will make it easier to respond:

May select more than one. Answer to the question below : "how can................."

A)____Because Government established regulations like 'allowable average (over the year) noise level (dba scale) threshold' allow Airline businesses to make people crazy for parts of the year, but when the numbers are smoothed out over the whole year everything looks just fine and dandy.

B)____Because businesses in the US have set a legal precedent for "taking" by dumping all manner of crap in waterways and spewing toxic particulates in the air until forced to adhere to a bunch of annoying minimum essential standards. After all, businesses must make a profit you know.

C)____Because it's part of our heritage to "take". Eg; like our forefathers who "took" this land from the Indians, but rationalized that it was ok, because after all a neat place like the swamps of Florida and the desert on Oklahoma is a fair trade, not to mention those expensive beads.

D)____What he hey, it's the free sky, they can just claim it for our own.

E)____All the above

F)____non of the above (got to be fair)............Optional essay response


It's that ___________________________________________________


Nate Cloud
Current President, Darley Civic Association


Response from Wayne Smith via email to our working group.

Nate:

Good question (even accounting for the whimsical restatements). Your model of treating the airport as a business and asking how that "business" can appropriate the property rights of others (that is the essence of your concern, accepting that clean environment, quiet and quality of life constitute property rights) is an interesting presentation of the problem.

As that business resides entirely in the political jurisdiction of another state Pennsylvania, bought from the Indians not with beads, but real money --
although his sons' "Walking Purchase" of the Lehigh Valley certainly sullied the good Penn name among the Delaware Indians), business sanctions would have to be applied through governments which had jurisdiction. Either the State of Pennsylvania (fat chance, although one hopes the Governor's recent letter on our behalf to her counterpart might get some type of response) or the federal government. Which is why continued presentation of our concerns to our three federales is the best path toward relief.

Although I think it highly unlikely that the feds will respond to the novel (at least in their minds) statement of the concern as a business taking issue, certainly our federal officeholders -- in desiring to keep us happy -- may want to use their power to apply sanctions through withholding of funds, reviews, restrictions or other sanctions placed through federal law on the airport and the FAA. Clearly that is what our communications with them are designed to produce -- be it the individual contacts of constituents such as yourself or via DE House Resolutions such as the one we just passed a few weeks ago.

I, too, live under the flight path and almost exactly on the same line of approach to the runway as you. It is a problem and we need relief. I, too, would like to use my deck in quietude as would many of my constituents. Although you pose the question in an interesting manner, I think we have to resolve it by getting our guys with clout to fight it out for us with the FAA.

I wish this could happen next week. I wish we could force the planes to alter their path up the river. That makes the most sense to me and a lot of others. Asking our federal officials when they can make this happen is a good way to approach the problem.

I hope you will share how our federal officials answer your question in red with the "cc" group.

Wayne

Rep. Wayne A. Smith
House Majority Leader
Seventh District
Delaware General Assembly
(302) 577-8723
wayne.smith@state.de.us  ¶ 5/11/2004