Ellie Park, Photography Editor

On Dec. 21, the Federal Aviation Administration issued a Finding of No Significant Impact, or FONSI, regarding the Tweed New Haven Airport, leading the Town of East Haven and Save the Sound — an environmental advocacy group focused on Connecticut and the Long Island Sound — to file separate appeals challenging the FAA’s findings and Tweed’s expansion. 

Roger Reynolds, the senior legal director at Save the Sound, explained that Tweed is in a small residential area that is in a flood zone, so thoroughly studying the environmental impacts of Tweed’s expansion on surrounding neighborhoods and the environment is essential.

“It was the FAA that ultimately concluded that there were no significant environmental impacts, again, despite the fact that this would increase emissions in the area, would have flooding consequences and would have water quality consequences,” Reynolds said.

According to Reynolds, Save the Sound is concerned that the FAA’s use of an Environmental Assessment, or EA, rather than the more rigorous Environmental Impact Statement, or EIS, may have overlooked some consequences of Tweed’s expansion.

Both East Haven and Save the Sound are seeking an EIS, specifically due to the EA’s neglect of how Tweed’s expansion could affect tidal wetlands, water quality and flood control in the East Haven area.

Typically, once an EA has been issued, this leads to either an EIS or a FONSI. An EIS is issued if there is evidence of significant environmental impact in the initial EA. In this case, the FAA did not identify the potential for significant environmental impact.

In the event that the appeals of the Town of East Haven and Save the Sound against the FAA’s FONSI are approved, they would move on to the Environmental Appeals Board for review. 

Reynolds added that one of the FAA’s conclusions was that increasing the size of the airport would result in reduced emissions under the assumption that the demand for flights would not be affected by the expansion, even though the expansion would increase the capacity of the airport and would allow for more flights and bigger planes, including additional freight flights.

Neelakshi Hudda, a professor at Tufts University who has studied the air quality impacts of Tweed’s current emissions, also questioned the assumption that the number of enplaned passengers would remain constant after the expansion. 

“There’s no need for [an expansion] if there isn’t a demand. How is this profitable if there’s no demand?” Hudda asked.

She noted that the building of new infrastructure would likely induce greater demand.

The Tweed New Haven Final EA document mentions that the estimated number of enplaning passengers in 2026 without and with the expansion is the same, so the number of enplaning passengers will increase over time but not as a direct result of the airport expansion.

The FAA’s environmental protection specialist assigned to review Tweed’s environmental impact was not immediately available for comment regarding how this assumption was made.

“I can say that all of us in our neighborhood deserve an Environmental Impact Statement. There is simply too much at stake to let this proposed expansion go through uncontested,” Lynne Bonnett, the New Haven representative on the Project Advisory Committee for the current Environmental Assessment, wrote.

Save the Sound has noted that the EA assumes that expanding the airport could potentially improve air quality.

This conclusion is a result of the FAA’s assumption that an expansion will not increase passenger demand for flights and that the expansion will allow them to use larger, more efficient planes.

“The decision is neither fair, safe, nor equitable, offering no resolution to the multitude of issues posed by a project of this magnitude,” Mayor of East Haven Joseph Carfora wrote. “The appeal is our only recourse.”

The Tweed New Haven airport is located at 155 Burr St.