[ back ]
State DEP appears ‘sympathetic’
(by Maggie Fazeli Fard - November 21, 2007)
While no promises were made, optimism ran high last Thursday after the Pascack Valley Mayors Association (PVMA) met with the state Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) in hopes of wrangling state support to fight the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
“They appeared sympathetic,” said Woodcliff Lake Mayor and PVMA President Joseph LaPaglia, who, along with mayors Joseph Blundo of River Vale, Lou Lamatina of Emerson, Dennis Deutsch of Hillsdale, George “Barry” Zeller of Montvale, and Fred LaMonica of Oradell, met with DEP Commissioner Lisa Jackson and five members of her staff in
Atlantic City . Also present at the Nov. 15 meeting were the president of the Northern Valley Mayors Association, the president of the League of Municipalities and the mayor of
Upper
Saddle
River .
LaPaglia said he was pleased to learn that DEP higher-ups were concerned about the noise and air pollution involved with the FAA’s controversial airspace redesign plan, known as Integrated Airspace. The plan will reroute hundreds of airplanes daily over
Pascack
Valley and surrounding regions in order to increase efficiency and reduce delays at congested airports in the area and across the nation. It currently faces numerous objections, appeals and lawsuits that will eventually be heard in federal circuit court.
Jackson told the mayors that her agency, which had done some research on the environmental issues involved back in 2005, would look into the issue further, possibly conducting additional environmental testing to back the claims that the FAA’s Environmental Impact Study was “insufficient and incomplete.” She also said that the DEP could file an “amicus brief” that would outline its concerns and support the PVMA.
This, LaPaglia indicated, is easier said than done. The first obstacle is garnering support from the State Attorney General Anne Milgram, a potentially daunting prospect considering Governor Jon Corzine’s reluctance to oppose the FAA plan.
“They all indicated that yes, there were legitimate concerns,” said LaPaglia. “But they can’t do anything without checking in with the attorney general’s office.”
Also, the PVMA may have to provide funding for the DEP’s additional environmental research if the agency decides to conduct it.
“They have a very tight budget,” explained LaPaglia. “Any testing that they do would be problematic because of that.”
Jackson could not be reached for comment prior to publication.
For the time being, the PVMA has to wait – wait for word of support from the DEP and for circuit court hearings to be scheduled.
What the region won’t have to wait for is implementation of the redesign plan, which is set to begin mid-December and be completed by 2011.
Maggie Fazeli Fard's e-mail address is fazelifard@northjersey.com
[ back ]
