A Silicon Valley airport may be closing much sooner than expected if a current proposal is approved by Santa Clara County officials.
The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors already decided a few years ago to close Reid-Hillview Airport in East San Jose by 2031. But now a recently released study issued by the county shows increased levels of lead in the blood of children who live near the airport, adding urgency to close it sooner.
"Even low levels of lead in blood have shown to affect IQ, ability to pay attention, and academic achievement," said Dr. Sammy Zahran, the principal author of the study.
The study found even higher lead levels with children who live within a half a mile of the airport.
But some are unhappy with the decision. Steven McHenry with the San Martin Neighborhood Alliance is opposed to the airport closing because county officials want to divert air traffic to San Martin airport.
"There’s no good place for all those airplanes and all that air traffic to go other than San Martin airport," said McHenry. "Reid-Hillview has an operating control tower and San Martin does not. And there just isn’t room for all the airplanes at Reid-Hillview to come down here."
The board will vote this coming Tuesday whether or not to speed up the closure of the airport.
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