A state environmental study that Readington Township feared would be a green light for Solberg-Hunterdon Airport expansion was, in fact, abandoned in 2002 after the state began ultimately unsuccessful negotiations to purchase the airport.

"Because the environmental assessment was stopped before it was completed, it will not progress any further," said Erin Phalon, a state Transportation Department spokeswoman. "If a new environmental assessment was to be documented, the entire process would need to be restarted. The data that was used is already years old -- it’s obsolete."

Such studies are required before state and federal officials give approval to an airport’s layout plan, a document that guides an airport’s development. In the case of Solberg-Hunterdon Airport, the review was begun in response to the airport’s filing of its Master and Layout plans following their completion in 1997.

The Layout Plan shows an expanded main runway length of 4,890 feet.

But the assessment did not even consider an airport expansion because of Readington’s opposition, as well as the environmental impact an expansion would have on surrounding open space.

Instead, the draft uses two alternatives that include the airport’s current main runway length of 3,735 feet as the basis for its assessment.

"After careful consideration of aeronautical benefits versus environmental and community impacts, two potential development alternatives were selected by the NJDOT for consideration in this EA (Environmental Assessment) Study," the preliminary draft states. "Both alternatives are substantially scaled back from the full Master Plan recommendations. The do-nothing or “No-Build Alternative” is also under consideration."

Parsippany engineering firm Clough, Harbour & Associates began the environmental assessment in 2000 but never completed the study because the state entered into contract negotiations with the Solberg family in April 2002 to buy the airport. The state dropped out of the talks nearly four years later.

Township Committeewoman Julia C. Allen said that while certain aspects of the environmental assessment would need to be revisited and the assessment would need to be completed, she believes much of the data used in the assessment’s preliminary draft could be used in a future environmental study.

"Two years of work and $300,000 went into doing that study -- that work has been done, but what hasn’t been done is the findings," Allen said.

Phalon and airport co-owner Thor Solberg said there are no plans to begin a new environmental assessment.

Although the preliminary draft is public record, Allen said that numerous attempts by the Township Committee to acquire the document were denied because the committee never asked specifically for the assessment’s preliminary draft.

"We asked for all documents relating to the airport, but apparently, we had to ask specifically for the preliminary draft of the Environmental Assessment," Allen said. "We didn’t realize you had to be that specific when requesting public records."

from the Courier News website www.c-n.com

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Date: May 14, 2006 Source: C-N.com — Courier News Online
URL: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060514/NEWS/605140354