[CPEO-MEF] ENCROACHMENT: Luke Air Force Base (AZ)

[Lenny Siegel <lennysiegel@gmail.com>]

Arizona engaged in political dogfighting over land near base
State in battle with county over landowners' rights; growth jeopardizes 
base's chance to host new warplane

by David Madrid
The Arizona Republic
October 12, 2008

Luke Air Force Base is competing with a base in Idaho to land a new 
generation of supersonic fighter aircraft, and state officials worry 
that urban sprawl could ruin its chances and drain billions of dollars 
from the economy.

The Air Force needs a large base with plenty of airspace over 
unpopulated areas to train pilots to fly the new F-35 Lightning II. 
Luke, on the western fringes of the Valley, has that and great flying 
weather to boot. But if new housing keeps creeping closer to the base, 
moving within noise boundaries, the Air Force fears future training 
activities could be curtailed by the residential encroachment.

That concern is particularly acute because the F-35 is louder than the 
aging F-16 Fighting Falcon used for training at Luke and more likely to 
disturb people living under flight paths.


...

For the entire article, see
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/2008/10/12/20081012F35luke1012.html

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org


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