Quote of the Week

Quote of the Week: "I'm an optimist that we can really disrupt this thing," news story quote from lawyer hired by Rockland County, New York to see if there are grounds for a lawsuit against the FAA and their unjust, corrupt Airspace Redesign Scheme

Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #442.............................................................................August 19, 2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net

As Bill Sees It (Editorial): Will Rockland County Really Go Through With Their Airspace Redesign Scheme Lawsuit? I am glad to see that Rockland County, New York hired a law firm to "pursue" legal action against the FAA and their outrageous Airspace Redesign Plan for the northeast states. According to the news stories some towns may be joining the county in the lawsuit. If a lawsuit is ever to be successful against the FAA it should have MANY communities joining in it. As the FAA's strategy is to divide and conquer their victims, united action by many communities is the one thing they dread the most. If a lawsuit is ever to be won against the FAA bastards the law firms (the more the merrier) should not focus their effort only on one particular community's impacts. If I'm not mistaken the plan can be stopped if there is proof that any part of it violates the National Environmental Policy Act or any other federal laws. The one aspect I'm most familiar with is how the airspace scheme leaves out the fact that JFK Airport are routed over poor and minority areas in Rockaway, New York and that future increased flights will increase this injustice. But in the poor and minority Rockaway community there is no organization to fight the FAA, just politicians who have sold their community's out. I would think a good partner in a lawsuit might be the Staten Island communities that apparently, due to a last minute change, are now going to get Newark night flights. As the airspace plan will bring more LaGuardia flights over Riker's Island prison, maybe a prisoner advocate group might join the lawsuit. Weeklong Protest Of Heathrow Airport's Pollution!!! While communities in the Northeastern United States wait until a hideous plan, which will dump more aviation noise on millions of people, is almost put in place before they even bother to hire a lawyer, the English people are taking "direct action" to stop their airport's expanding and increasing contribution to global warming. What has happened to the revolutionary spirit in America? Once we were a leader in environmentalist thinking. Now we just seem to have given up our souls to the corporations and their bought and paid for politicians and their corrupt government agencies. The FAA Changed Their Airspace Redesign Site Address!!! Speaking of corrupt government agencies, I clicked on FAA Airspace Redesign web site in last week's newsletter and lo and behold I got a blank page. Apparently the good people at the FAA thought it would be helpful to the public if they changed it. The FAA is always thinking of ways to better serve the people, the aviation industry people that is. The new site is: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air_traffic/nas_redesign/regional_guidance/eastern_reg/nynjphl_redesign/

England: Heathrow Airport Expansion Protestors Arrested At "Climate Camp!!!!" Police arrested 11 people staging a climate protest outside Biggin Hill airport in Kent on Thursday as part of the wider against the expansion of Heathrow airport. Several had chained themselves to the perimeter fence. A similar protest was held outside Farnborough airport in Hampshire. Both airports reported business as usual. The protests came in the middle of a week-long climate camp outside Heathrow, the world's busiest international airport, whose organisers have promised unspecified "direct action" against expansion plans. Scientists say air transport contributes heavily to global warming, noting that the carbon dioxide and water vapour emitted at altitude are four times more potent than at sea level. The government is committed to tackling climate change by cutting CO2 emissions but also backs a rapid expansion of air travel, which is set to double in the next 25 years. The arrests on Thursday bring to 16 the total number of arrests connected with the climate camp since Sunday. Editor's Note: Right on!!! I only wish we had people who were willing to take more "direct action" against airport expansion. Apparently it isn't "chic" enough for phony American environmentalists. http://www.javno.com/en/world/clanak.php?id=71673

Rockland County, New York Wants To Fight FAA Redesign Plan!!! NEW CITY - The county has hired a law firm to pursue legal action against the Federal Aviation Administration in hopes of derailing a proposal that would result in hundreds of flights over Rockland. County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef said yesterday that Holland & Knight would look into whether the FAA violated noise-mitigation laws while crafting its five-state airspace redesign plan. Describing it as a David-and-Goliath fight, Vanderhoef said the lawyers would search for other "fatal flaws" that could potentially invalidate the FAA's final environmental impact statement. The FAA submitted the FEIS on its preferred plan on Aug. 3, meaning the law firm has little more than two weeks to file an objection before the 30-day comment period closes. A decision is expected next month; the county, however, could also bring a lawsuit. "I'm an optimist that we can really disrupt this thing," Vanderhoef said. "But as a matter of history, at this stage when you get this far along and they haven't listened to you, the chances of them listening or your succeeding are generally rare. But it's not that it can't be done." The leaders of Orangetown and Ramapo said yesterday that their towns would join the county in legal proceedings against the FAA. Editor's Note: Better late than never. I hope this is all another scam to fool the public and make a few more lawyers richer. This plan has more holes in it than Swiss cheese sandwich. http://www.thejournalnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070816/NEWS03/708160383/1019/NEWS03

New York: Rail Link To Stewart Airport Explored!!! Metro-North Railroad has studied the feasibility of building a rail link between Stewart International Airport and New York City three times since 1971, and only now is it prepared to advance the idea. The timing is no accident. The railroad, in requesting proposals from consultants for analyzing the alternatives identified in the 2003 study, makes repeated mention of the Port Authority's pending $78.5 million purchase of the long-term lease to operate the airport from the National Express Group. "There are a number of different things happening and we think it's the right time to "¦ revisit the idea of providing transit access to Stewart Airport," said Marjorie Anders, a Metro-North spokeswoman. "There's an economic development opportunity with the Port Authority taking over. There is synergy with the ARC tunnel (and) the potential for transit on the Tappan Zee Bridge." Consultants are scheduled to tour the study area Tuesday with Metro-North staff and to submit their proposals before Sept. 28. Editor's Note: I can hear the whistles blowing now. I wonder if the freight train will operate at night, like the Stewart Airport air cargo hub is secretly planned to do. How much money did Rep. Hall and Hinchey take to support the Port Authority takeover of Stewart. http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070819/BIZ/708190330

NEW CITY - The county has hired a law firm to pursue legal action against the Federal Aviation Administration in hopes of derailing a proposal that would result in hundreds of flights over Rockland.

County Executive C. Scott Vanderhoef said yesterday that Holland & Knight would look into whether the FAA violated noise-mitigation laws while crafting its five-state airspace redesign plan.

Describing it as a David-and-Goliath fight, Vanderhoef said the lawyers would search for other "fatal flaws" that could potentially invalidate the FAA's final environmental impact statement.

The FAA submitted the FEIS on its preferred plan on Aug. 3, meaning the law firm has little more than two weeks to file an objection before the 30-day comment period closes. A decision is expected next month; the county, however, could also bring a lawsuit.

"I'm an optimist that we can really disrupt this thing," Vanderhoef said. "But as a matter of history, at this stage when you get this far along and they haven't listened to you, the chances of them listening or your succeeding are generally rare. But it's not that it can't be done."

The leaders of Orangetown and Ramapo said yesterday that their towns would join the county in legal proceedings against the FAA.

"It certainly makes sense to me that all of Rockland should speak with one voice on this issue," Orangetown Supervisor Thom Kleiner said.

Ramapo Supervisor Christopher St. Lawrence said his town would "help in any way we can."

"Ramapo will partner with the county and other municipalities or counties in the area and we will fight this FAA plan," he said. "I believe that we can win on the environmental issues, the pollution issues and the noise issues."

Suffern resident Rick Sinclair was pleased to learn the county was at least giving it a shot. He said he was outraged the FAA had failed to inform Rockland residents and local officials of its plans to create a new arrival flight path into Newark Liberty Airport over parts of Ramapo and Orangetown.

"I was appalled about the lack of due process and notification," he said. "I'm glad they're trying."

By 2011, an average of 300 to 400 flights a day could travel over the county at 6,000 to 8,000 feet, raising noise levels noticeably for some 11,000 residents. The new air traffic would travel over Rockland 60 percent of the time, or more than seven months of year, and typically during the summer.

Earlier this month, the county contacted four firms specializing in aviation-related matters. The others were Kaplan Kirsch & Rockwell in Denver; Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP in New York City; and Zarin & Steinmetz in White Plains.

Vanderhoef said Holland & Knight was selected because of its expertise in aviation matters, FAA regulations and the National Environmental Policy Act. He said the firm offered a "three-pronged attack" - the ability to fight the FAA during the 30-day FEIS comment period, its ability to quickly file a lawsuit and its lobbying group in Washington.

Teno West, a partner with Holland & Knight in Manhattan, said its lawyers in New York and Washington were in the process of designing a strategy.

"Time is an issue," West said. "We're jumping right into this. I've got the teams organized and ready to get running on this. ... If there's something there, I feel confident we'll find it."

The law firm has taken on the FAA before, working on noise impact issues related to airports.

In the past, the county has used the law firm to work with its sewers and solid-waste departments.

Vanderhoef said he believed the FAA violated the 1990 Aviation Safety and Capacity Expansion Act, which he said required that the environmental reports address the impact of noise.

"They fundamentally, fatally, did not look at the noise issue enough for everybody, not just for Rockland County," Vanderhoef said. "That means they've got to go back and redo it and that means they've got to restudy and take (it) into consideration. That's what I'm looking for.

"If I'm incorrect about my theory, there are other theories that I'm sure that experts in the National Environmental Policy Act would know," Vanderhoef added.

After evaluating the facts, the law firm will provide a list of lawyers to work on the case and how much it will cost the county.

Legislator Patrick Withers, the first Rockland government official to publicly raise the issue of the flight path, said he was confident his fellow lawmakers would support Vanderhoef's legal action.

Withers said the county should also reach out to Bergen and Westchester counties to "get our legal minds together."