At the invitation of the National Guard Bureau, a group of Madison alders submitted requested comments on May 21 for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) about the proposal to local twenty F35s with the 115th Fighter Wing at Truax Field on the northeast side of Madison.
The comments, which include many questions to be addressed in the Draft EIS—as well as several recommendations—were signed by Alders Baldeh, Rummel, Kemble, and Zellers. They were based on public input received at a February 28 listening session organized by north and east side alders, and comments sent by individual Madison residents to alders before and after that meeting.
The alders’ comments focused on five areas raised by their constituents: 1) Neighborhood Characteristics: health and other data; 2) Noise issues; 3) Cultural Resources: traditional, Alaska native, archeological, and architectural; 4) Water Resources: quantity, quality, stormwater, watersheds, floodplains ; 5) Hazardous Materials: wastes, toxic substances, and contaminated sites. Questions and recommendations in all five areas are integral to addressing the significant environmental justice concerns raised by the existing operations at Truax Field and the proposal to locate twenty F35s there in the future.
Many of the Alders’ comments parallel the EPA Region 5 Draft EIS “scoping comments” sent to the National Guard Bureau on March 28. Notably, one of the EPA recommendations, supporting alders’ recommendations, is: “EPA recommends identifying any nearby communities living with environmental justice (EJ) concerns. Specific EJ concerns should be identified in the DEIS, and, if applicable, steps that are to be taken to avoid or reduce impacts to those communities.[1] We also recommend NGB consider potential health impacts relating to children and other susceptible populations.[2] (footnotes in original EPA letter)
We greatly commend these four alders for their courage in submitting these comments representing their constituents’ concerns. Meanwhile, several alders remain silent—and other city alders, our entire Congressional delegation, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin—and of course the Greater Madison Chamber of Commerce—have openly lobbied for the F35s. Why? Because money talks. Sadly, many of our purportedly “progressive” politicians seem to have forgotten (if they ever knew) that money cannot fix an irreversibly polluted environment nor can it heal human bodies and minds contaminated with toxic chemicals.
Thank you, Alders Baldeh, Rummel, Kemble, and Zellers!!!
[1] For more information relating to environmental justice, see Executive Order 12898.
[2] For more information relating to children’s health, see Executive Order 13045, and the last bullet in the enclosed document titled “U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Diesel Emission Reduction Checklist.”
