Pascack Towns Gearing Up to Challenge FAA in Court
By WALTER DAWKINS, STAFF WRITER
WOODCLIFF LAKE Pascack Valley towns and area legislators continue to fight a Federal Aviation Administration plan to route more jet traffic over the towns.
With the FAA set to make a final decision on its plan early this month, the Pascack Valley Mayors Association, during a closed meeting Thursday, geared up for a legal fight.
“We’re concerned about noise, pollution in the air, health issues and lowering of home values,” Woodcliff Lake Mayor Joe La Paglia said of the FAA plan, which could double noise levels in some parts of the area.
River Vale Mayor Joseph Blundo said officials were considering hiring the Princeton law firm Potter and Dickson, which discussed its legal strategy at Thursday’s meeting. The 10 Pascack Valley towns have pledged $5,000 each to a legal defense fund and plan to ask the county freeholders for financial help.
La Paglia said the towns need to be ready for the FAA’s decision.
“You can’t take any legal action until the FAA issues the record of decision,” La Paglia said. “But then the clock starts ticking, and you get 30 days to respond. So we want the attorneys lined up, hopefully by the end of next week.”
Montvale resident and activist Rich Baudisch lauded the mayors’ efforts.
“The public response in favor of filing a lawsuit is overwhelming,” said Baudisch, who noted that an online petition on the borough’s Web site had more than 7,700 signatures opposing the plan.
FAA officials concede that jet-engine noise levels would double in parts of the Pascack Valley under their plan, but maintain that the levels would not be high enough to require noise mitigation.
“The route changes at Newark Airport that we are proposing do not create any significant noise increases in Bergen County,” FAA spokesman Jim Peters said at a boisterous June meeting in Woodcliff Lake with Pascack Valley residents.
Area legislators also have been fighting the FAA reroute plan.
Sen. Gerald Cardinale sent a letter to Governor Corzine last month, asking the governor to end his silence on the FAA proposal.
“A lot of folks in New Jersey have been heard from, but the governor hasn’t,” Cardinale said. “And when he stays silent, it sort of sends a mixed message to the FAA, and it blunts our efforts.”
Cardinale said he also plans to ask the state attorney general to become involved in any legal action against the FAA.
“It’s a great idea that the Pascack mayors are raising a legal fund, but they have very limited legal resources,” Cardinale said. “The attorney general would have real clout and a lot of resources to bring to bear.”
Rep. Scott Garrett, R-Wantage, sent a letter Wednesday to Rep. John Mica, chairman of the House Transportation subcommittee on aviation, asking him to attend a meeting next Friday in Washington to discuss the concerns about the airspace redesign.
Garrett also sent a letter to FAA head Marion Blakey, asking the agency to consider an alternative Port Authority plan that would encourage the use of large planes and reduce the growing number of smaller jets.
Garrett introduced an amendment in July to the 2008 funding bill for all Transportation Department agencies which would have barred the FAA from using any funds to execute its airspace plan. Though the amendment was voted down July 24 in a 360-65 vote, Garrett said he would not give up.
“[I'm] already working on amendments to the authorization bill for the FAA to defeat the plan,” Garrett said “We’ll also continue to try to meet with federal officials in Congress and the administration to convince them that the FAA’s plan is wrong.”
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E-mail: dawkins@northjersey.com
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