Tinicum Township commissioners and Delaware County Council members hope an 80-year-old state law can help them halt a proposal to expand Philadelphia International Airport.
The commissioners announced the filing of a civil suit against Philadelphia at a news conference yesterday, citing a statute from the 1920s that they say requires the city to get the consent of the township and the county before buying land in Tinicum.
With two-thirds of the airport already in Tinicum Township, Tinicum and county officials want to prevent the expansion of one runway, the construction of another and the relocation of a UPS center into residential neighborhoods, township manager David Schreiber said.
Either of two expansion options that the city has proposed would require the acquisition of homes and businesses, and negatively affect tax revenue, said Michael Messina, president of the Tinicum Township Board of Commissioners.
Messina said that the expansion would eliminate 3,300 jobs, displace 80 businesses and 72 homes, and cost the township $300,000 in tax revenue.
Then there's the issue of noise.
"We don't want our residents to be burdened with the possibility of having airplane operations any closer to their homes than they currently exist," he said. "It's amazing that when people of Tinicum Township mow their lawns, they can't hear their lawnmowers when a plane goes overhead. It's already that loud here."
Jack Whalen, vice chairman of Delaware County Council, said commissioners and council members filed suit Tuesday because they believed they had reached an impasse in negotiations with the city.
Whalen said the city should explore other options, such as the expansion of surrounding airports like those in Northeast Philadelphia, Atlantic City and the Lehigh Valley, instead of encroaching further on Tinicum.
"What this proposal would do is move the runways closer to the back yards of the residents," he said. "They would have planes taking off in their back yards."
In addition, Whalen and Messina said the proposed expansion, which would take up about 230 more acres of the township, would negatively impact air quality, destroy 80 acres of wetlands and increase the possibility of birds striking airplanes.
"Thus, further endangering the lives of travelers and wildlife," Messina said.
Doug Oliver, Mayor Nutter's spokesman, said he couldn't comment on the suit because the city received it only yesterday and had not had the chance to review it.
He stressed that the airport was an economic engine for the entire region, not just Philadelphia.
"It appears as though this is shaping up to be a debate between Philadelphia and Delaware County," he said. "But the airport is also Delaware County's asset."
Whalen said local officials recognize how vital the airport is to economic development, but he also questioned the costs.
"The airport cannot be successful at the expense of the residents of Tinicum Township, Delaware County and our environment," he said. *
|
|
|
|
|
|
MOST POPULAR PHILLY.COM PHOTOS
Daily Headlines
Subscribe now! Daily Headlines Newsletter
Philly.com news blogs
Philly.com Promotions
