Trenton-Mercer Airport Expansion Legal Battle Continues

YARDLEY, PA —An organization is continuing its legal challenge against the planned expansion of the Trenton-Mercer Airport.

Trenton Threatened Skies (TTS) and its co-petitioners last week petitioned the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit for a new hearing to be held by the full Court and/or a rehearing by the same panel of judges that issued its decision on Jan. 4.

Residents of Bucks and Mercer Counties remain "deeply concerned" about the health and environmental impacts of the massive airport expansion, the organization said.

Last summer, Yardley and Lower Makefield Township joined forces to protest the expansion until further environmental studies could be conducted.

The two communities argued that additional environmental, noise, and air pollution would impact residents in the two Lower Bucks County towns.U.S. Senators John Fetterman (PA) and Robert Casey Jr. (PA) also joined residents in the protest.

The petition is the latest chapter opposing the FAA’s characterization of the $200 million expansion project as a mere terminal replacement.

The new terminal will be five times larger with an increased capacity to service many flights through additional gates and aircraft parking positions.

"This greater capacity will inevitably increase aviation-related impacts on the environment and public health," Trenton Threatened Skies said.

TTS challenged the FAA’s approval of the project in federal court in 2022, contending that a project of this scope warranted an Environmental Impact Statement to study the effects on the environment and public health.

On Jan. 4, the Court found in favor of the FAA, holding there is no need to study the aviation-related impacts of the expansion.

The Court deferred to the FAA’s assertion that this project would not induce an increase in flights and that only the temporary impacts from the construction phase had to be evaluated.

TTS and co-petitioners maintain their position that the terminal is an expansion that will pave the way for a significant increase in flight operations to the inevitable detriment of public health and the environment, particularly in downwind, environmental justice communities.

Once the new capacity is built, there is no way to limit the air traffic at the airport, no matter what harm it causes to the environment and public health.

The action by the two senators follows U.S. Congressman Brian Fitzpatrick, who also appealed to federal officials in an official letter demanding that federal funding for the project be halted. He also testified before a House Committee to express concerns about the expansion.

State Sen. Steve Santarsiero (D-10), state Rep. Perry Warren (D-31), the Lower Makefield Township Board of Supervisors, and the Yardley Borough Council have also sent similar letters that federal funding should be halted until the health and environmental impacts of the expansion project are thoroughly studied.

"Our communities sit a few miles from the airport, on the other side of the Delaware River and the expansion will undoubtedly affect our residents," Yardley Council President Caroline Thompson read in the borough's letter at a recent meeting.