Convenience vs. health, quality of life
Dear WMABO
I recognize that the Island Airport
brings
convenience to the small group of people that use it, but the vast
majority
of the people who live along the Waterfront never use the airport.
Still,
they have to live with the increased noise and pollution from the
airport
and suffer from its effects.
The real fear that many of us have had
when we
first learned about the Island Airport expansion is now facing us. When
the Toronto Port Authority allows the air traffic to increase to 212
slots a day
-- 212 take-offs and landings a day -- the airport is going to become
truly
unbearable. The constant noise at peak periods, the rain of pollution,
and
the smell of fuel from the planes will become much, much worse.
Today's newspapers have reports from a
medical
study showing that the smoking ban cut hospital admissions for heart
attacks,
strokes and respiratory diseases. Parents who live in Bathurst Quay are
already complaining that their children are suffering from increased
respiratory
problems. When the airport expands to 212 slots a day this will become
much worse and more people will suffer from serious health effects.
This
airport is toxic to the people who live along the Waterfront.
Politicians took the difficult step of
banning
smoking in public places because scientific studies had shown that
smoking was a
public health hazard not only to the smokers but to everyone in close
proximity of the smoke. There are now many scientific studies
that conclude that airports are a serious risk to the health of everyone
who live within the proximity of the airport. The expansion of the
Island
Airport is a public health issue and should be seen in those terms.
The convenience of a small number of
people using
the Island Airport is no justification to allow the massive expansion of
the
airport, if it harms the health and quality of life of thousands of
people. That was the argument in the controversy around smoking in
public,
and the same argument applies in the expansion of the Island
Airport.
Bill Freeman
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