Seven reasons to oppose converting the Naval Air Station into a joint-use or civilian airport:
- Unprecedented traffic congestion – The owner of an airport license will want to maximize their investment – the only way to do that is with a lot of flights. We’re potentially talking thousands of additional cars pouring into our communities every day.
- Crashing property values –Experts tell us that we can expect the value of our homes to be slashed in half. Ask anyone who lives near a significant airport what their home is worth. Better yet, go drive through the neighborhoods.
- Cancer-causing air pollution – The statistics are terrifying. See this study about the tons of benzenes airplanes leave behind
- Life altering noise pollution – Imagine planes thundering overhead day and night, waking you and your children. Imagine yelling at the top of your lungs so your neighbor can hear you.
- Imperiled community safety – We’ve witnessed too many tragedies near the base. Increasing air traffic will only increase the odds of more tragedies in the air over our homes.
- Reduced quality of life – The above factors all add up to a life of unpleasantness – we won’t be able to hear ourselves talk, we’ll have to worry about increased cancer risk, and our roads will be clogged.
- A wasted opportunity – The possibilities for a future use of the base pose endless positive possibilities - possibilities that can increase the local tax base, create improved services and create a better life for anyone who lives in these communities.
As you know, the Department of Defense is closing Willow Grove Naval Air Station – the decision is final, and will take effect no later than 2011.
Now, Governor Rendell and others are pushing an illogical plan to convert Willow Grove Naval Air Station into a military, joint-use, or civilian airport. Any non-military use is unacceptable.
The consequences for communities surrounding the Air Station – Horsham, Hatboro, Montgomeryville, Chalfont, Lower Moreland, Upper Moreland, Warrington, Warminster, Ambler, Lower Gwynedd, Upper Dublin, and Willow Grove – are potentially devastating. There are close to 150,000 registered voters in these communities – easily enough to swing a statewide election.
Governor Rendell has claimed that he wants to create a massive military installation, but his plan is economically unfeasible. The military won’t pay for it - if they wanted to do that, they would not have closed the base. The Governor won’t pay for it – that’s not the way he operates. The only way to pay for it is to create a civilian or joint-use airport in order to generate revenue. Once that Pandora’s Box is open, our communities will go down the tubes.
