BOSTON-After meeting with fellow members of the Legislative Caucus on Air Transportation, State Senator Jarrett Barrios and the Caucus called on various state and federal agencies to immediately halt all Logan expansion related endeavors, including current legal battles, in order that the Governor and FAA may examine new information relative to the economic benefits of Logan expansion. Based on previously unreleased reports it now appears that the economic value of the proposed Logan Airside Improvements Project, the primary facet of which is the construction of a new 5,000 runway, was exaggerated by a factor of ten.

Because of this material flaw in the way the original proposals were presented to state and local environmental officials, and because this economic data factored prominently in the original certifications that were issued, Sen. Barrios and many of his/her colleagues have called for an immediate moratorium and a reexamination of the project. Such reexamination, according to Sen. Barrios, should take place both in the Executive Office of Environmental Affairs and in the Governor’s new Office of Commonwealth Development.

“Massachusetts cannot keep looking to Logan and the communities near Logan to provide for the air transportation needs of the Commonwealth,” Senator Barrios said. “To address the increased demand for air transport, Massachusetts needs a regional approach like adding flights to Worchester and Hanscom.”

The apparent exaggeration of economic benefits stems from a fundamental flaw in the proposal’s drafting process. Expansion proponents (Massport and the New England Regional FAA) utilized a private consultant, Simat, Helliesen & Eichre (SH&E), in the preparation of their public arguments and ultimately their Environmental Impact Report/Statement (EIR/S) (This is the document proponents were required to submit to state and federal environmental regulators). SH&E created its own and previously unused model to predict delay costs and economic benefits of the project. After public comments on the EIR/S were submitted the FAA hired the MITRE Corporation, which is a frequent consultant to the FAA on a national level, to conduct their own review of SH&E’s work and to conduct an analysis using the accepted cost/delay model endorsed by the federal Office of Management and Budget. The results of that MITRE analysis indicate that the economic benefits of Logan expansion were exaggerated by a factor of ten.

“The Governor and his environmental secretary need to take a hard look at this project with fresh eyes unencumbered by past prejudices,” said Air Transportation Caucus Chair Rep. Robert A. DeLeo (D-Winthrop). “With Massport in desperate financial trouble and expansion’s economic benefits in doubt, especially given the amount of environmental harm it will cause to Logan’s neighboring citizens, the Administration has an absolute responsibility to reevaluate this project on it merits.”