Winthrop residents will be offered the chance to share their views on the $50 million Logan Airport Centerfield Taxiway, during a May 17 WCAT telecast by the town’s Noise, Air Pollution and Airport Hazards Committee.
Residents will be asked to telephone their views in while the show, which starts at 7 p.m., is on the air.
Among topics the Committee expects to discuss will be a $3 million taxiway airplane noise study that is just getting underway, the impact on public health of minute particulate pollution from taxiing aircraft engines, and other effects this long controversial project will have on the town. Several town residents, including AHC members Bob Driscoll, Jerry Falbo and Harvey Maibor, and are either on citizen committees set up to deal with public issues or have participated in studies already concluded.
The televised discussion will probably address the question of what courses of action the town can take to deal with difficulties raised by the taxiway, particularly in the so-called Maze neighborhood. That area of Winthrop is closest to the portion of airport property where the taxiway will be built. A health study several years ago found evidence that respiratory ailments likely linked to Logan aircraft pollution strike most frequently in the Court Road-Johnson Avenue neighborhood.
AHC member Brian Dumser, a University of Massachusetts/Boston environmental scientist, is participating in state efforts to study the public health issues associated with the airport and its traffic. State Rep. Robert DeLeo (Dem.-Winthrop), House Ways and Means Committee chairman and an AHC member, founded and heads a Legislative Logan Airport Caucus.
Besides those cited above, other Airport Hazards Committee members include Dick Bangs, Vincent Collins, Charlie Mason, Tom McNiff and Rick Rodes. Susan Mason, Eleanora Olivolo and Claire Sweeney are AHC Outreach members.
This announcement was provided by the Airport Hazards Committee.