Battle to Prevent New Runway Heats Up

BOSTON-The battle over a proposed new runway here at Logan International Airport is heating up with Mayor Thomas M. Menino throwing the full weight of his office behind the opposition. “The mayor is very, very opposed to the proposed runway,” Lisa Pollack, a spokesperson for the mayor, tells GlobeSt.com. Pollack confirms that the city has hired the well-known local law firm of Brown Rudnick Freed & Gesmer to block the runway.

In a released statement, Menino notes that among the legal options being pursued is an effort to defend the 1976 injunction that had barred the runway from being constructed. The legal team may also seek a new injunction to stop the completion or operation of the proposed runway.

“I won’t sit back and let Massport, Secretary Durand, and the FAA put Boston’s future at risk,” writes Menino in his weekly address. “A new runway at Logan Airport would do three things. It would create more noise, more air pollution, and more traffic, and I’ve hired Mr. Joel Reck and his colleagues to make sure that never happens.”