Health

Is Logan Airport Making People Sick?

A Decade-Long Health Investigation Focuses On Cancer Rates Near Logan

BOSTON (WBZ) ― Logan Airport is responsible for $7 billion in economic activity every year in New England. But is the nation's 16th-largest airport also making its neighbors sick?

For 10 years, the state's top public health officials have been investigating. A year from now, they will announce their final results, but experts are concerned by some early health data gathered from nearby residents.

The planes literally skim the rooftops in Winthrop as they approach Logan Airport. With more than a thousand flights a day, the noise and jet fumes are part of everyday life.

George Parisano has seen the planes come and go for 40 years. He's always wondered why so many neighbors get sick.
 
"I really do," Parisano said. "Personally, I have had cancer. My neighbors up and down the street, a lot of them have cancer. "

Rep. Robert DeLeo, a powerful Beacon Hill lawmaker, has been pushing for answers.

WBZ asked DeLeo, a Democrat who represents Winthrop, his opinion: "Is Logan airport making people sick?"

"Definitively today, I can't say that," DeLeo said from Donovan's Beach, across the water from Logan. "But do I have grave concerns that it is? Yes, I do."

As chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, DeLeo has supported spending almost $2 million to examine what health effects Logan Airport might be having on the 17 communities within five miles of its runways.

And here is the reason why: Existing state health data obtained by WBZ shows that compared with the statewide average, there are elevated rates of heart disease in Everett, Hull, Malden, Lynn, Medford and Saugus.

But that's not all. Asthma rates are also higher in Boston, Chelsea, Everett, Lynn and Revere.

And state health experts also know lung cancer rates in Boston, Everett, Hull, Lynn, Quincy and Revere top the state average.

This health investigation was started nine years ago and now includes interviews with more than 6,000 people. But it's what was found in the neighborhoods of East Boston that really caught the attention of Suzanne Condon of the state Health Department.

And it's this simple fact: Lung cancer rates are higher the closer you get to the airport.

Condon, the lead investigator, says smoking is probably not the cause.

"When we look at other smoking-related cancers, we don't see them consistently high in those same areas," she said. "That suggests something else is going on which is contributing to that."

And whatever that "something else" is, it is now causing some people to question whether Logan Airport should change the way it operates.

Condon says in the future Logan may have to change certain flight patterns, or change where taxi cabs and rental cars are parked.

"Logan should be a little more concerned and should pay a little more attention to its neighbors," Rep. DeLeo said. "Instead of talking about more runways, more taxiways, maybe we have to scale it down a bit. Maybe we have to look for alternative sites for airports."

Massport executives refused to talk to WBZ on camera despite repeated requests. Massport has been described as "uncooperative" by some people close to this health investigation.

However, executives did provide WBZ a written statement saying they are working with public health officials and that they have taken steps to improve air quality by using cleaner burning buses and reducing the time a plane idles on the runway.

In a brief phone conversation, a Massport spokesperson suggested the city of Boston, as well as major highways, also contribute to air pollution and that may be another explanation for the elevated number of diseases in the five-mile area.

A year from now health experts will release their report. They tell WBZ  they expect to draw some definitive conclusions. If they do find the airport is making people sick, they say they will be ready to suggest changes to the largest transportation hub in New England.

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