TINICUM — County officials made good on a promise to file suit against the Federal Aviation Administration Friday, saying the agency failed to measure the ill effects a proposed airspace redesign plan for Philadelphia International Airport would have on area residents.

“We all want the airport to be successful,” Delaware County Council Chairman Andrew Reilly said at a press conference held at the Tinicum Township Municipal Building, “but we are talking about a devastating plan with no operational benefit.”

Flanked by U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, and several state, county and municipal officials, Reilly said the noise generated by new air routes approved Sept. 5 by the FAA would prove “intolerable” for residents who live in the flight path.

“We vow to continue to fight the FAA proposal to prevent this plan from being implemented,” Reilly said.

The “petition for review” filed in the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals initiates the legal challenge against the FAA. The county has also filed an application with the agency seeking a stay or halt of the project.

“We expect the FAA will turn us down at which point we would file a motion for stay with the court,” said county Solicitor John McBlain. “If the court agreed, it would prevent the FAA from implementing the plan until the case is fully litigated.”

The county and all five members of council are among 17 plaintiffs listed in the suit. Council has also retained the services of a California law firm that specializes in aviation-related litigation.

Reilly estimated the county has spent about $50,000 on legal fees related to the redesign proposal, which would put hundreds more planes over the county each day, many at lower altitudes.

The FAA claims the new routes will save travelers at Philadelphia, Newark, LaGuardia and Kennedy airports about 200,000 hours in delays per year by 2011.

Reilly said aviation consultants have told county officials flight delays at Philadelphia International Airport would be reduced by less than 30 seconds per flight if the plan were implemented

“The whole region is thirsty for improvements at the airport,” he said after the press conference, “but people need to know they will still be waiting on runways if this plan goes through while their neighbors in Delaware County are left to deal with the adverse effects.”

In addition to the lawsuit, Sestak and U.S. Rep Rob Andrews, D-N.J., have asked the Government Accountability Office to investigate whether the FAA plan represents an appropriate use of tax dollars.

State Senator Ted Erickson, R-26, of Newtown and state Representatives Ron Raymond, R-162, of Ridley Township and Bryan Lentz, D-161, of Swarthmore were also on hand for the event.

With regard to the suit, Erickson said the FAA “left no other path than the path these folks are taking” and expressed the need for a more comprehensive solution to remedy the “negative impact on the lives of all of us who live under these planes.”

Lentz and Raymond continued to advocate for better utilization of other airports in the region, such as those in Lehigh County and Atlantic City. Raymond added that he would like to cap annual flights at Philadelphia International at “500,000 or less.” (Philadelphia was the 10th busiest airport in the world in 2006 with 515,866 takeoffs and landings.)

Lentz said the FAA plan appears to have been crafted for the benefit of the airline industry rather than the needs of the public. “The FAA is no longer an impartial arbiter in these cases,” he said.

The county claims the redesign proposal violates the National Environmental Policy Act, a law which requires “federal agencies using federal resources or property to analyze potential environmental impacts of proposed actions and viable alternatives.”

Reilly said the FAA failed to consider the proposal’s impact on the John Heinz Wildlife Refuge and the cumulative effect when coupled with the ongoing runway extension project and airport capacity enhancement program. He said the agency’s environmental impact study failed to properly measure how the plan would effect the “health, safety and welfare of the residents and environment in Delaware County.”

While there is no precedent for the courts overturning an FAA redesign plan, Reilly said it is possible litigation could cause a proposal to be modified or dropped.

Sestak said the lawsuit is “absolutely necessary to stop this colossal mistake by the FAA” and ripped the agency for failing to calculate either the cost of the project or its potential health risks.

“We are prepared to go forward and win this effort,’ he said.

In rendering its decision, the FAA claimed “the continued health of the aviation industry is dependent upon the modernization actions contained” in the redesign plan.

In the first quarter of 2007, Newark was the top-delayed airport with 55 percent on time performance. LaGuardia was second worst at 58 percent; JFK was fourth at 60 percent and Philadelphia fifth at 65 percent.