Editor’s note: This commentary is by Ellen Powell, of South Burlington.
[O]n June 14, 2017 the Burlington Airport hosted an “Airport Noise Compatibility Open House” to discuss noise “mitigation” options for F16 noise. They announced that “participants will be able to speak with experts about Federal Aviation Administration sound mitigation options for the community and our neighborhood. There is no formal presentation…” This was kind of a mingling social gathering event that was offered.
“Noise mitigation options” for the community and our neighborhood? Let’s take a look at that.
VTDigger, in a Feb. 17 article entitled “FAA offers few solutions for F-35 noise mitigation in South Burlington” reported “…officials from the FAA and the Vermont Air National Guard [said] there was only one solution offered to concerns about noise pollution from the aircraft: Home buyouts.”
Richard Doucette, the FAA New England Environmental Program manager, said in the article, “I can tell you that in 15 years of doing this we’ve never built a noise barrier. Sound will skip over the barrier unless the plane or home is right next to it. Theoretically, yes, we fund noise barriers, but there are very few of them, which shows how ineffective they are.” He continued with, “in order for a wall to be an effective […] noise control it would need to be up to 60 feet tall.”
The F16 is louder than it used to be because pilots are now forced to use the afterburners 95 percent of the time in order to get the jets off the ground.
PQ The Air Force said the F35 is four times louder than the F16. How many more homes will be on the chopping block?
The article explains that the airport has the money to buy out 40 homes in South Burlington within a 73.3-decibel noise level from the F16s, based on a noise exposure map from 2015. There are 900 more homes in South Burlington within the F16 map’s 65-decibel noise level which are also eligible for “noise mitigation” efforts funded by the FAA. What noise mitigation efforts? Razing homes? Apparently, nothing else works.
And what about people living in Winooski and the other highly populated towns around here that are currently living with this unbearable noise? The airport focus, as well as their buyouts, are all directed to South Burlington, yet there are thousands of people in other towns who now fall, or who will fall, into the dangerous noise zone.
What happens when the F35s come? The Air Force said the F35 is four times louder than the F16. How many more homes will be on the chopping block? The article quoted Richard Doucette: “I understand people want the F-35 [noise information] on maps for mitigation, but we can’t do that until they are here, and even then it will take years to put a program in place.” There have been F35 noise maps made for other places being considered to base the F35. But not Burlington. Why is that? Is it because the F35 is definitely coming here and if people actually knew what the deal was they would revolt? Are they waiting on giving us a noise map until it’s too late for anyone to do anything about it?
Have you heard about the latest F35 nightmare? Pilots are suffering from hypoxia while flying the F35s. Are pilots going to be passing out from lack of oxygen in these F35s as they are flying F35s over our heads? It utterly stupefies me why the Vermont National Guard, FAA, Air Force, Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders, Rep. Peter Welch and Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger all think it’s such a great idea to base the F35 in this densely populated part of Vermont that contains about 140,000 people.
Why did they bother to have a “noise mitigation open house?” In my opinion, it was just a dog and pony show to get themselves over this hurdle of the pesky citizens who want to live in relative peace and quiet, citizens who don’t want to see their property values plummet. Commercial jets taking off and landing nearby could be considered reasonable. But the noise of the F16s, and especially F35s, are not at all reasonable. God help us when the F35s come.
