Photo credit: Asad Photo Maldives
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition and Abigail Harrison, Editor, Quiet Communities
Two townships in New York State have filed a joint lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration alleging that over a million residents are subject to “deafening” engine noise and air pollution from low-flying aircraft at JFK and LaGuardia airports. The Town of Hempstead and the Town of North Hempstead filed a petition last year asking the FAA to explore alternative routes for the planes, but did not receive a reply. Now, the towns are headed to court over the issue.
“After years of good faith efforts being ignored, our residents have arrived at that juncture,” North Hempstead Town Supervisor Jen DeSena said in a press release last month. “At stake is their quality of life and more alarming, their overall well-being, and as their elected representatives we will not stand idly by.”
Quiet American Skies board member Elaine Miller is quoted in this article from CBS News New York. Miller is also the co-founder of the Nassau Aviation Committee and Plane Sense 4 Long Island, an advocacy group representing locals affected by JFK and LaGuardia airports. Miller called the frequency of flights over locals’ homes — up to once every two minutes — devastating.
“Once this tremendous, thunderous roar is over, you hear this high-pitched sound of the next plane coming in,” Miller told CBS.
The towns allege in the lawsuit that modern air traffic control systems and satellite-based navigation have increased the number of flights up to 300 planes per day, and lowered their flight paths by up to 1,000 feet, according to a press release from the towns. The number of flights peak in the summer, up to over 13,000 in the month of July. The noise and air pollution caused by the congested flight path has spurred residents to dub it, “The Arc of Doom.”
Many of these flights exceed decibel levels that are considered “disruptive,” or over 65 dB. Accordingly, more than 388,000 airplane noise complaints were filed last year, a massive increase over recent years. The towns’ goal is to spread out air traffic, decrease the number of flights and urge the FAA to conduct a more thorough environmental review of the low-flying planes, said the towns’ attorney Nick Rigano. The FAA would not comment on potential litigation.
“The FAA is required to consider impacts to people on the ground, the residents of the towns. They failed to do that. It is unlawful,” Rigano said. “They violated their mandated duties.”
The FAA allows Americans to be exposed to unsafe levels of aviation noise. The FAA considers 65 dBA* day-night level from aircraft noise to be compatible with residential land use. The day-night level adds a 10% penalty added to sound measurements between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m.
The United Kingdom’s Civil Aviation Authority, the UK equivalent to the FAA, considers the much lower 51 dB aircraft noise level to be safe for people. The World Health Organization recommends much lower aircraft noise levels, 45 dB for daytime aircraft noise and only 40 dB at night.
Why do the UK and WHO recommend much lower aircraft noise levels than the United States? Because both believe in evidence-based public policy. Aircraft noise causes major health problems like diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular disease. Specific nighttime flights have been linked to heart attacks. Aircraft noise is literally killing Americans.
Although given the new Secretary of Transportation** and all the fatal and non-fatal airplane crashes, near misses, and other aviation safety incidents since his confirmation, maybe he and the FAA should focus on the apparently forgotten primary mission of air system safety before addressing the serious aircraft noise issues raised by the Long Island lawsuit.
*A-weighting adjusts unweighted sound measurements for the frequencies heard in human speech. It is an inappropriate measure of machinery noise such as that produced by aircraft engines.
**According to the Department of Transportation website, Secretary Duffy is a former MTV reality show star and former Fox Business host. He was also a world-champion lumberjack athlete, being a three-time world champion in the 90-foot speed climb. No aviation or aviation management experience is listed. He does not have a pilot’s license.
