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.
Full Story: http://wbztv.com/health/Logan.Airport.Cancer.2.767855.html