Letters

I would like to applaud the East Hampton Town Board for unanimously approving a climate emergency declaration. By making this declaration, the Town Board has chosen to look at the impact their decisions have on climate change and make decisions that work to reduce emissions of heat-trapping greenhouse gases.

In trying to honor that commitment, the Town Board will face lots of challenges, but perhaps none bigger than the decision of what to do with the East Hampton Airport when it regains control from the Federal Aviation Administration in September.

If the goal of the Town Board is to have a positive impact on reducing dangerous greenhouse gases that are causing chaos to our environment and poisoning our health, it has been given a golden opportunity.

As a newcomer to the area, I was shocked to learn that what I thought was a small local airport generates over 50 million pounds of carbon emissions every year. More than 30,000 flights arrive and depart yearly, with many of those flights carrying one, two or no passengers!

I also was shocked to learn that the airport sits on top of the sole-source aquifer that provides drinking water to thousands of East Hampton residents and residents of surrounding communities. In addition, the daily assault from the noise of jets and helicopters makes enjoying the outdoors almost impossible for many communities unlucky enough to be in the flight paths.

By making the decision to re-purpose the almost 600 acres that the airport occupies, they can take 30,000 planes out of the sky every single year. That is 30,000 aircraft that are blanketing the East End with carbon emissions 365 days a year, polluting our air, land and water. It seems like an easy decision and one I hope they are eager to make.

But if East Hampton community leaders choose to turn a blind eye to the negative impact of the airport on the environment, there is a growing feeling among the communities west of the airport that they should at least take responsibility for their decision and change the routes so that the aircraft fly over East Hampton neighborhoods as much as possible, which have in the past been largely unaffected by the daily assault of noise and pollution.

Liz Albert

Sag Harbor