Project runway

The Boston Globe reports today that Logan Airport's newest runway, which is called 14/32, has reduced delays at the airport in its first month of operation. Logan's fifth runway was constructed 30 years after Massport initially floated the idea because of vehement community opposition and a court injunction. With Republican governors in charge for the past 16 years, the will of local residents was pushed aside, the injunction overturned and the 5,000-foot runway was put into place.

While the Globe article passes on the airport's bubbly praise of the new slab of asphalt -- and does so with a seeming dirty look to those who objected to its construction -- our point has always been that Massport cannot be trusted. Their goals are in many ways directly opposite those of us who live around the Logan behemoth. We care about quality of life issues; they only care about money. We don't trust them and we will never trust them, and it is because of our vigilance that 14/32 was allowed to go forward only if Massport signed onto a number of restrictions.

What those who aren't familiar with the history of Logan Airport don't know is that there will come a time when Massport will violate those terms. They will do it with a sheaf of statistics showing that their actions won't harm the environment or detract from the quality of life, and they will do it with a smile.