New Haven’s Tweed Airport’s $250 million expansion proposal is offering Southern Connecticut a variety of economic benefits, but some have highlighted concerns regarding the destruction of wetlands as well as noise and traffic pollution.
According to the New Haven Independent, an 80,000 square foot East Terminal is expected to be constructed by 2028. This includes thousands of feet of runway extensions, parking grounds for up to 4,000 vehicles and promises of environmental restoration to compensate for land affected.
Brianna Santos, a senior legal studies major, experienced flying for the first time at Tweed in its current size.
“I like Tweed’s small size, it makes it easy to navigate. Everything is right there and there is no way to get lost, it’s a straight path,” she said. “In larger airports the security people are meaner, but at Tweed, it’s super small so they’re not as annoyed and they are all really nice.”
Progress in the construction approval is being hindered by the city of East Haven, who owns part of the airport land. Attorneys from Save the Sound, a nonprofit for environmental protection, argued in Washington D.C. on behalf of East Haven in December. A decision is still pending that may determine the property’s fate.
Sharon Kahara, an assistant professor in biology and environmental science and a wetlands ecologist, has been teaching at the university since 2021.
“The wetland they’re going to pave over for this building will never be restored to its original functionality,” said Kahara. “Under the current permitting process, once approved, they are allowed to put money aside to protect, maintain or restore a wetland that’s like it elsewhere. So that’s what they call mitigation.”
Kahara stressed that there is no law that prevents anyone from demolishing, destroying and filling up a wetland. Official permits allow this action, with local laws typically carrying some regulation. However, federal rollbacks on environmental protection under the Trump administration can eliminate roadblocks that prevent people from acquiring permits.
Official concerns for the project cited by East Haven include insufficient plans to address burdens on residential neighborhoods, possibilities of flooding, increased traffic in the region, and a lack of emergency access.
Tweed is located near many residential areas. The wetlands affected make up about nine acres, the equivalent of roughly seven football fields, and the land remains vital to the ecosystem.
“I don’t think the region needs the airport,” Santos said. “Most people go to JFK anyways and if they can’t go to JFK, people have always been perfectly fine using Bradley.”
Tweed’s official website boasts renderings of the new airport design, with subsequent projections listing hundreds of millions of dollars and thousands of new jobs to the region by the end of the decade. This presents the position that some argue in favor of potential economic growth. Although the expansion project was announced in 2021, some still feel as if news of the issue had appeared suddenly.
“I would say that from my end it’s hard to tell how public or how well the community was involved in the process in terms of when this was announced, with the timing, of course,” Kahara said. “Affected communities such as the residents of East Haven need to be engaged early and often to make their concerns clear.”
