Safety issues delay second MacArthur concourse
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Safety issues delay second MacArthur concourse
By Sandra Peddie
Newsday Investigations Team
September 6, 2006, 9:31 PM EDT
The opening of Southwest Airlines' second concourse at MacArthur Airport, originally scheduled for July this year, has been delayed indefinitely because of fire and other safety deficiencies, Islip town and airline officials confirmed Wednesday.
They also revealed previously undisclosed design and construction problems in the first Southwest concourse, which has been in operation since 2004. These include the number and location of exits, type of fire insulation and number of toilets.
Town and Southwest officials initially declined to specify what the new problems were and an airline spokeswoman characterized them as "nonsafety issues." After repeated requests by Newsday, they detailed the problems in both concourses Wednesday.
In the yet-to-be opened concourse, town building and fire inspectors found an inadequate number of smoke detectors, fire sprinklers that need to be replaced and problems with a backup generator, according to Acting Islip Supervisor Eric Hofmeister.
Neither concourse meets current state fire codes, according to officials. Southwest officials have sought a hearing before the state Board of Review, scheduled for Oct. 12, to get variances from the state fire code.
"That means they've been in violation all along," said Legis. Thomas Barraga (R-West Islip), who is running for town supervisor.
Since early summer, Newsday has reported significant fire hazards, possible financial irregularities and cracks in the new apron outside the Southwest concourse currently operating. Federal, state and local agencies have opened investigations into the expansion.
Since those problems became public, town officials have conducted comprehensive inspections and instituted an hourly fire watch, according to Hofmeister, who is not a candidate for supervisor this fall.
He said the problems "were not necessarily serious. These are items that would come out of any inspection of a project. ... I continue to say the facility is safe."
Councilwoman Pamela Greene, Barraga's opponent in a Republican primary next week, declined to comment on the latest construction problems.
"I don't believe the town should be faulted for exercising extreme caution in putting safety first," she said in a statement regarding the delayed opening.
In 2000, Southwest embarked on an $82-million expansion of its operations at MacArthur Airport, a regional transportation hub in Ronkonkoma that currently handles more than 1 million passengers a year. When the new concourse opens, Southwest will have a total of eight gates at MacArthur.
On Aug. 2, Islip Town Engineer Steven Rizzo pleaded guilty to criminal charges for allowing an airport restaurant to open in violation of state fire-safety codes. He faces a year in jail and has agreed to cooperate with the Suffolk County district attorney's investigation.
That same day, town officials closed the T.G.I. Friday's restaurant at the airport because the area outside the restaurant lacks fire sprinklers. Records obtained by Newsday show that state fire officials twice warned Rizzo that the restaurant failed to meet state code.
Rizzo still signed a certificate of occupancy allowing it to open.
The restaurant has remained closed, pending a hearing on the fire-safety issues scheduled before the state Board of Review next Thursday. Rana Florida, a spokesman for the restaurant's parent company, Bethesda-based HMS Host International, said Wednesday that the company is cooperating with the town and hopes to reopen the restaurant soon.
Southwest now runs about 32 flights a day out of MacArthur to eight cities. The new concourse, when it opens, will allow the airline to add flights. Southwest spokeswoman Whitney Eichinger said the delayed opening would not affect current service. "We are running our full schedule in our current gates."
