It was a two-pronged attack.

A group working to block a proposed airport expansion sent letters to the governor and lawmakers to plead for an intervention and protested outside Carroll County government offices Monday.

“With [Federal Aviation Administration] funds paying for a lot of this, the federal government must be pushing” for the expansion of Carroll County Regional Airport, said Siniti Oneda, co-chairman of Concerned Citizens United, an anti-expansion residents group.

CCU sent a letter to various officials, including Gov. Martin O’Malley, U.S. Sens. Barbara Mikulski and Ben Cardin, state Delegates Tanya Shewell and Nancy Stocksdale, and State Sen. Larry Haines.

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“We consulted with an attorney experienced in airport litigation, who expressed surprise at the unusually generous amount of funding the FAA is putting towards this proposed expansion,” the letter says. “We want to know why the FAA wants our airport expansion so badly.”

Residents attached a list of a dozen alleged grievances that varied from whether existing corporate hangars are filled to questions about tax dollars funding the project.

“E-mails from county officials indicated that only two corporate jet hangars are occupied by jets, the rest are occupied by business or government officials who do not purchase jet fuel,” CCU wrote.

County spokeswoman Vivian Laxton said all seven corporate hangars are leased and that aircraft would not necessarily be found there 24/7.

“Is your car always in your driveway?” she asked.

CCU also raised concerns about whether tax dollars would be used for the project.

Budget Director Ted Zaleski recently said while tax dollars aren’t slated for the expansion, he couldn’t say tax dollars would never be used for the airport’s enterprise fund.

At about noon Monday, four people picketed outside county government offices.

Residents said they plan to protest nearly every day until commissioners vote on the issue June 12.

kvolkmann@baltimoreexaminer.com