The Chamber of Commerce's relase concerning the airport diking project is a good illustration of the pitfalls of quantifying costs and benefits when deciding on whether to go ahead with a project. It's relatively easy to develop dollar figures for things like the amount of business done at the airport, payrolls and such. But what about the environmental effects of more diking, not just at the airport but downstream? What about the effects of increased jet noise?
While the Chamber's release doesn't mention it, I believe the proposed diking is designed not only to prevent flooding the existing facility but also to allow expansion of the airport. Where has there been any analysis of the effects on the city of increased jet traffic into and out of this airport, not just economic effects but effects on, among other things, the noise level? Will a new runway direct planes over parts of the city that don't see them now? And is it wise to site even more buildings and facilities on our floodplain? Might it not be better to think about restoring the floofplain to allow it to mitigate flooding elsewhere rather than developing it further. When we only look at the easily quantifiable factors and ignore the hard to quantify ones, we almost always make the wrong decision. Charlie Swope Ward 1 _____________________________________________ To Join: St. Paul Issues Forum Rules Discussion Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ____________________________________________ NEW ADDRESS FOR LIST: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe, modify subscription, or get your password - visit: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/stpaul Archive Address: http://www.mnforum.org/mailman/private/stpaul/
