Bill may force new Logan study

Transport measure calls for public health research

East Boston residents want a thorough study of environmental effects prior to further Logan Airport expansion. (John Tlumacki/ Globe Staff/ File 2005)

A provision tucked into a transportation reform bill now before the state Legislature's joint committee on transportation may prove a boon to East Boston residents looking to head off a controversial new $455 million parking garage planned for Logan Airport.

The measure stipulates that state transportation officials work in concert with their health and human services counterparts to make sure future air, rail, and highway transportation projects are not a threat to public health. It also requires the state Department of Public Health to complete a comprehensive study of the health effects of air pollution caused by air, road, and rail transportation.

Opponents of Massport's plan to consolidate rental car operations at Logan Airport by building a five-story parking garage with 9,000 spaces say they hope the provision, if passed, will develop critical data for the first time on how exposure to air pollution from ground and air activities at Logan affects their health.

At a community meeting last month, many residents of the Jeffries Point area in East Boston said they worry that the garage, set to open in 2012, will bring more air pollution to those living nearby and called for such a review in their ongoing efforts to persuade Massport to scale back the project.

"This is what we've been waiting for," said Mary Ellen Welch, an East Boston activist who has been closely involved in issues surrounding the expansion of Logan Airport since the late 1960s. For decades, Welch said, many East Boston residents have unsuccessfully demanded a thorough examination of the health effects of Logan Airport activity on an unusually close, dense, residential neighborhood.

"We're thrilled that this is in the legislation and hopefully will get enacted," said attorney Peter Koff, who represents Airport Impact Relief Inc., a citizens group made up of residents mostly from East Boston and Winthrop. Koff said it would be a big step to get data on the health effects of ultra-fine particulates since the current review by Massport and a recent study done by the Federal Aviation Administration have not looked closely at the issue.

The study, which would have to be done by Sept. 30, 2010, would look at the health impact of fine and ultra-fine particulates on residents living within 500 feet of any airport with more than 500 plane trips per week; on any railroad line with diesel locomotives; and on any roadway with at least 50,000 vehicles per day. The study would review respiratory and cardiac diseases, as well as the incidence of cancer among relevant populations.

"Growing up in East Boston, I know full well the impacts that our transportation system can have on public health and the environment," said Transportation Secretary James A. Aloisi Jr. in an e-mail. "This study will give the state and residents a comprehensive understanding of the health effects of air pollution from highways and airports. We have a duty to do everything we can to reduce air pollution, curb climate change, and improve public health in all regions of the Commonwealth."

Though the state's Department of Environmental Protection does compile an annual report on air quality based on data from monitoring stations, "this would appear to us to be the first statewide study in some time" on particulate air pollution, said Colin Durrant, deputy secretary of communications and policy for the Executive Office of Transportation.

In 2001, the state Department of Public Health launched an airport impact study, but twice had to halt it before work was complete because of funding cuts, said state Senator Anthony Petrucelli, a Democrat from East Boston. "This would be an opportunity to build upon" that data.

Petrucelli said he supports the neighborhood's call for a smaller facility farther away from homes and parks.

Though Massport is required to research how new airport projects will affect the environment, many East Boston residents are skeptical of the benign conclusions drawn by each piecemeal review, Petrucelli said.

Last month, Massport officials said they expected to file the final draft of a required environmental impact review with the state Executive Office of Environmental Affairs by the end of March. But last week, Massport spokesman Richard Walsh said the authority is still going over the document and that a filing date hasn't been determined yet.