Airport Wing Walkers
What’s Up With That?
By Jeanne Greene
I appreciate the fact that the Town Fathers (and 1 Town mother) took the time during 2 “citizen forum” periods of their agenda to let people weigh in on the controversial Kit Carson Park name-change.
Why has there been NO opportunity for locals to weigh in on an issue that will affect all of us much more significantly, the airport expansion? Bids are out now for construction, even though there are critical issues that have not been addressed or even mentioned to the public on this $25 million project paid for with our tax dollars.
Do you live in an adobe structure? Who will pay the damages when your walls crack and crumble or your windows break from low-flying monster planes at night? Not the Town.
Who will pay for counseling for your small daughter who is now so terrified she is wetting her pants or afraid to speak because a plane came at your house or so it seemed? Not the town. (We are already seeing cases like this in other NM Air Force low-altitude training areas.)
Apologies to Veterans with PTSD. When this area becomes a practice area for bombers flying low, it looks like you will have a long wait time for your care. Don’t bother asking the Town to pay.
Who will pay for the cattle that run into barbed wire fences while trying to escape or the aborted calves from loud behemoths flying at tree-top level?
What will happen to our tourism dollars when we are besieged by low-flying Air Force crews who use this area as a preview for Afghanistan? “Combat mission planning, threat scenario planning, low-level combat training, terrain following/terrain avoidance, simulated threat maneuvers, simulated airdrop procedures, aircraft rejoin procedures, and tilt-rotor aerial refueling” are all included in the Air force L.A.T.A. plans for our area.
The Rio Grande Gorge is especially attractive for “ingress” and “egress” to “avoid detection by populations or military aircraft defenses.” We are already seeing CV-22 Osprey aircraft INSIDE the Gorge. A longer, stronger “emergency” runway will open the door wide to such flights.
What is going to happen when in our thin mountain air, corporate jets have to dump fuel over the Rio Grande (2 miles from the runway) in order to gain lift. It’s legal. Who pays for the polluted waters and loss of wildlife?
Why is the FAA calling this project “urgent” for our “safety” after 47 years of airport operation? So “urgent” to the FAA that they have waived the need for a normally mandated cost/benefit analysis and a Master Plan? The town has even shortened the construction period from 3 years to 2 years, it is so “urgent”.
How is it safer to shorten the prevailing winds runway used 94% of the time (due to wind direction), while creating cross traffic with heavier, larger planes?
Why is the airspace over our 1000 year old World Heritage Pueblo not being protected when it is known that this ancient lived-in structure could collapse or sustain severe damage from low-altitude aircraft? Who will pay for damages? Not the Town.
What will happen when a plane carrying 6000 gallons of jet fuel crashes in our tinder-box forests during our current drought conditions? Who will pay the millions in damages? How could our forests recover?
What backroom deals were made with the new ski valley owner and friends for their Global Express and Lear Jet 60s and new hangers at the airport? What backroom deals were made by the powers-that-be at the Pueblo for new developments surrounding the airport while the Pueblo people were not consulted?
Why is the public left out of this huge decision that will most likely not help our local economy? It is highly unlikely that commuter flights will be available to Denver and Albuquerque since such efforts have failed 3 times in the past. If you have your own private jet, this will be a dream come true paid for by OUR tax dollars.
What happens to our local economy when the 1% ski valley crowd plants high-dollar resorts, condos, restaurants and the rest around the airport, along the Highway and up on the mountain? One only needs to look at Vail and aspen, Colorado for a sampling of how skyrocketing property taxes evicted the local residents.
Please ask the Mayor and Council to delay construction on Taos Regional Airport’s proposed new runway until after the promised Public Forum where these issues can be aired. Mayor Dan Barrone and Councilor Fritz Hahn have both publicly announced support for a Public Forum on the airport expansion on 2 separate occasions at Town Meetings. The possible Forum is on the Town meeting agenda this Tuesday. Let the people have a voice on this project, before the construction begins.
Mayor Barrone dbarrone@taosgov.com, 758-7171, 770-7255
Councilor Fritz Hahn 758-9585, fhahn@taosgov.com
TAOS AIRPORT EXPANSION: Do you know?
We are calling for a halt and reevaluation of the proposed Taos airport expansion. We need a voice in this project and an updated Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement. It was developed without a Master Plan1 and without a cost-benefit analysis. So how can we determine whether this project is viable and will not unduly burden town finances? More than $25 million of our taxpayer money would go to this project for the wealthy and the military, while education, healthcare, poverty, affordable housing, the Library, the Youth & Family Center, acequia restoration, gang prevention, road and building repair are ignored.
Safety. Taos Regional Airport has operated for 47 years with one predominant wind runway 4/22. No accidents reported have been due to the current runway design.2 Most small airports do not have a crosswind runway. The wind direction is suitable for the current runway 94% of the time. Adding the new large runway will require shortening the existing runway by 420 feet3, thus making it less safe for our local small-plane pilots most of the time. Cross traffic with larger planes (that are not as affected by winds) with NO air traffic controller could spell disaster at Taos Regional Airport.
The current runway already handles Short Take Off and Landing (STOL) aircraft, smokejumpers and scoopers used for fire-fighting. The gigantic air-tankers carrying fire retardants would come from Albuquerque and Colorado without needing to land in Taos4. Search & Rescue helicopters can land at the airport as is. $24 million is to be spent to add an average of 1.4 more days per year of fly time5 and would reduce safety significantly.
Environment. El Agua Es Vida. Already wells are drying up. Anticipated development attracted by the new runway will further drain and pollute our diminishing water sources. Now is not the time to enable more fossil fuel use, especially deadly jet fuel. Climate change is manifest in New Mexico’s current droughts and massive forest fires. Jets, taking off over the Rio Grande, can legally dump fuel to get better lift6, contaminating our Rio Grande that sustains wildlife and downstream New Mexicans. Only two miles from the airport lies our new Rio Grande del Norte National Monument, established for the preservation of all species and habitat for future generations. Exhaust from additional flights will pollute the air we breathe and linger in the notorious inversion layer. As air flights multiply, their noise and vibration will disturb veterans with PTSD, livestock, calving elk and bighorn sheep, golden eagle nesting sites, the vital cycles of nature, the Taos Pueblo World Heritage site and all of us.
Air Force. 200 military aircraft landed at Taos airport in 20137. There are NO restrictions for military aircraft use at Taos Airport. The Air Force is EXEMPT from the Pueblo Memorandum of Agreement8 discouraging use of Pueblo airspace, regardless of vibrations that may damage this World Heritage Site and National Historic Landmark. Cannon and Kirtland Air Force Bases already use our Northern NM airspace. Residents report increased military aircraft flying loud and low over area houses and inside the Rio Grande Gorge and Taos Canyon. Cannon AFB is due to release an Environmental Impact Statement for a Low Altitude Training Area (LATA) in northern New Mexico for their proposed treetop training sorties9. A longer runway paves the way for increased military flights, as are already happening at other NM civilian airports with expanded runways. Training exercises bring inevitable spillage from mid-air refueling practice and of fires from crashes by inexperienced trainees. Could an expanded Taos airport become a hub for military training?
Tourism. “The incremental increase in tourism and population resulting from the improvement of SKX [Taos airport] is expected to have a minor effect upon growth and development in Taos Valley,” states the DOT/FAA Record of Decision10. Taoseños likely won’t see scheduled commuter flights to and from Albuquerque airport, since they have failed three times in the past11. Ski Valley developers plan for heavy spenders arriving on the new runway to be shuttled directly to Taos Ski Valley, bypassing local businesses in favor of new fancy shops up on the mountain. The money spent by these fantasized wealthy tourists will likely NOT trickle down to the people of Taos, just as small towns bypassed by the interstate eventually die. Taos Town Manager Rick Bellis has cited studies showing that ski developments don’t benefit down-mountain towns like Taos12.
Jobs. What jobs? The Record of Decision on runway expansion states, “permanent employment increases are not anticipated;” and we can expect “no appreciable permanent employment over the temporary increase in employment for construction” over 2 or 3 years13. Some new jobs may develop at Taos Ski Valley. While any jobs are welcome, these restaurant and hotel service jobs have historically been low wage and seasonal, not living wage employment with benefits.
Who Benefits? A Cost Benefit Analysis for this expansion has not been done. The agreement between the Town, the Pueblo and the FAA was made behind closed doors. Why are the Town, the County and the FAA so eager to build this proposed runway, without weighing in with the public and giving us the information we need? There will be no Master Plan for commercial development surrounding the airport until after the runway funding is secured14. Our tax money is being spent with a plan drawn up in 1991 with little to no revision. That plan did not address new military Training Area plans or the Ski Valley expansion or the new Rio Grande del Norte National Monument. Already the town spends $140,000 each year to maintain the airport15. Municipal airports rarely make a profit. Airport expansion will likely increase the Town’s maintenance expenses. Our taxes go to subsidize the airport while crying community needs go unmet.
Quality of life. Many Taos area families have lived here for many generations. Many choose to move or to retire here because of the beauty of the land, the tranquility, the clear skies and wilderness. Taos is a ‘beloved place’ with a unique historical character and cultural diversity. Our Native and Hispanic communities grew out of a traditional, land-based way of life. But proponents of airport expansion envision an influx of people wealthy enough to own their own private jets. These jet setters would drive up prices, the cost of living, rentals, and property taxes. Sprawl and development along the highways to the Ski Valley would suck up our precious water, supplant dwindling agricultural lands, and scar the beauty of the landscape. Do we really want our town to become like Aspen, where rising costs of living and property taxes have evicted the original townspeople and destroyed its unique character?
Make your voice heard
Call, write, e-mail AND meet with the Mayor of Taos and the Taos Town Councilors.
Mayor Daniel Barrone
758-7171, 770-7255, dbarrone@taosgov.com
Council member Andrew Gonzales
751-2003, 779-2159,agonzales@taosgov.com
Council member Judith Cantu
613-0200, jcantu@taosgov.com
Council member Frederick Peralta
751-2003, 779-4641, fperalta@taosgov.com
Council member George “Fritz” Hahn
758-9585, fhahn@taosgov.com
Town Manager Rick Bellis
575.751.2002, Rbellis@taosgov.com
Send Letters to the Mayor and Councilors:
400 Camino de la Placita, Taos, NM 87571
Taos Airport Coalition- Elen 758-3736, community4taos@yahoo.com
Online petition: https://www.credomobilize.com/petitions/petition-to-oppose-taos-nm-airport-expansion
References for Taos Airport Coalition Fact Sheet
1. Interview with Town Planner, Martha Perkins, 5-14.
2. NTSB Accident reports (No accidents due to current runway design were found. 1968-2014)
3. Alternative 2D, FEIS, 2012, Chapter1-1
4. www.wildfiretoday.com, http://gacc.nifc.gov/swcc/
5. D.O.T./F.A.A. Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS), Taos Regional Airport, Airport Layout Plan Improvements, June 29, 2012, pg ES-25, Table S-3. (Current annual wind coverage 94.13%, planned Alternative 2D- 98,89%. 4.76% difference x 365 days=17 days/yr divided by 12 mo=1.44 days/mo)
6. Federal Aviation Administration. http://www.faa.gov/regulations_policies/handbooks_manuals/aircraft/media/FAA-H-8083-1A.pdf
7. http://www.airportiq.com/
8.http://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/records_decision/media/rodSKXAirportLayoutPlanImprovements2012.pdf, Appendix 3
9. http://www.cannon.af.mil/library/environment.asp
10.http://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/records_decision/media/rodSKXAirportLayoutPlanImprovements2012.pdf
11. http://www.taosnews.com/news/article_3dc48e7c-7bb1-11e2-b0a3-001a4bcf887a.html?TNNoMobile, Studies: Modest Economic Boost from Taos Airport Expansion, Taos News, Feb.21, 2013, by J.R. Logan
12. Interview with Town Manager, Rick Bellis 5-14
13.http://www.faa.gov/airports/environmental/records_decision/media/rodSKXAirportLayoutPlanImprovements2012.pdf, 6.2.3, pg 36
14. Interview with Airport Manager, John Thompson, Apr 30, 2014. “The FAA has advised they will most likely have funding for the Airport Master Plan in their 2015 Fiscal Year Budget. The expected time to complete a Master Plan is 3 to 6 months once funding for the project has been secured.”
15. Interview with Rick Bellis, Town Manager, 4-14.