BURLINGTON — Supporters of basing the F-35 fighter jet in Vermont wrapped up their postcard campaign this week by insisting that noise is no reason to reject bringing the aircraft here.
“We think the issue of noise as a reason not to base here is a red herring,” said Tom Torti, president of the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, at a news conference Wednesday at the chamber offices in Burlington.
Instead, proponents of the F-35 focused on the “overwhelming support” demonstrated in their postcard and petition campaigns.
Thousands of signatures and postcards were sent to the Langley Air Force Base in Virginia during the public comment period on the current draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which ended July 15. The comments will be used to help craft a final EIS on the basing of the F-35 at Burlington International Airport
The comments indicate support for the Vermont Air National Guard’s current mission and cite the lack of scientific evidence on the harmful health effects of the F-35’s noise levels proposed in the draft EIS.
According to Rosanne Greco, a South Burlington City Council member and opponent of the basing proposal, the postcards and petitions cite misleading information concerning the health effects of aircraft noise.
“I would have signed this postcard if it was true, but I just happen to know that it is totally false,” Greco said.
She said there are 20 to 30 other studies in the draft EIS that say there are health effects resulting from aircraft noise levels similar to those resulting from the proposed basing, all of which were ignored in the proponents’ message on the postcard and petitions.
Greco said the claim on the postcards that there will be fewer operations for the F-35s than the current F-16s is an incomplete citation from the EIS. On the same page cited on the postcards, BR4-28, the EIS states that the reduction in flight patterns would be offset by the F-35’s producing sounds 7 to 17 decibels louder than the F-16.
The harmful effects of noise have been the central concern for opponents in recent weeks, including the impact on children’s health as indicated in a 2011 World Health Organization report.
Torti said noise is a part of everyday life. He said noise is a “red herring” that is distracting the basing decision.
“We live in a noisy world, all right, we don’t live in a bubble, we don’t live in the 1800s,” Torti said at the news conference.
Nicole Citro, organizer of the Green Ribbons for the F-35, said her experience living in Chittenden County is a case study in proving that noise has not adversely affected the health of residents.
Citro is also the vice president of the Citro Agency, a South Burlington insurance company.
Proponents say children will not be harmed by the noise. They said there is no empirical evidence for the claim.
The mass submissions were part of a campaign organized by the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation (GBIC) and Green Ribbons for the F-35.
In the final eight days of the public comment period, the chamber and GBIC circulated petitions around Vermont, seeking supporters. Nicole Citro began her postcard campaign last month.
The proponents said 10,000 postcards and 7,265 petition signatures supporting the basing project were sent to the Air Force.
As of Wednesday afternoon, Nicholas Germanos, the civilian project manager for the environmental impact statement, had received 9,347 prepaid postages in support of the F-35, up from 5,085 one week ago.
He said most of the cards were from the Burlington area; some were sent from New York.
He received 497 non-postcards, 382 against and 115 for basing the F-35. He will be reviewing all submissions into early next week, he said.
Germanos said generally, Winooski and South Burlington comments showed a strong opposition to the basing of the aircraft.
These comments do not represent public opinion, he said. Instead, he will review them for their content. The Air Combat Command will respond to these comments in the final EIS, scheduled for release later this summer.
After the Air Force issue a final Environmental Impact Statement, it will be reviewed by the public for 30 days. A final record of decision on the basing of the F-35 is expected in October.