[R]elease of the first noise map for the Burlington International Airport to include data on the F-35 fighter jets will be delayed by two months, according to airport officials.
The map was originally scheduled to be released this week, but won’t be available until sometime in February, according to Gene Richards, the director of aviation at the Burlington Airport. The maps, which include noise data from commercial flights out of BTV as well as military jets used by the Vermont Air National Guard, are used in the federal government’s calculation for noise mitigation grants. The F-35 sound figures will be projections.
The contractor making the map, the Jones Payne Group, was unable to gather and analyze the requisite noise data by the original deadline, Richards said. This data comes from the Federal Aviation Administration and the military. FAA environmental program manager Richard Doucette directed all questions to airport officials. A spokesperson for the Vermont National Guard could not be reached for comment.
Richards said he is confident the requisite data will be collected and analyzed soon. What matters most, he says, is producing accurate noise estimates.
“What is most important is we have as many indicators and as much information as possible, to make these maps complete and accurate,” Richards said.
The current map, produced in 2015, doesn’t factor in the noise from F-35A fighter jets, which will be based at Vermont Air National Guard starting in September 2019.
In February, VTDigger published a five-part series examining the impending basing of the jets at the Guard, which will be the first National Air Guard base in the country to receive the troubled fighter system.
The series examined concerns over the noise of the F-35, which is expected to be four times as loud as the current fleet of F-16s based at the airport. Noise maps created as part of the federal environmental review process estimated that the F-35 basing would bring more noise to the nearby communities of Winooski and Williston. Noise from the F-35 will expose an estimated 1,000 additional households around the base to levels that exceed 65 decibels, according to federal data. The federal government has said that level is considered to be “unsuitable for residential use.”
Some members of Congress — nicknamed the Quiet Skies Caucus — have criticized current federal standards for building noise maps based on models and projections, not real observed sound on the ground. (Earlier this year, Vermont Air Guard officials pledged to bring an F-35 to Burlington so that the community could experience the actual noise of the jets. That plan has since been scrapped.)
Federal lawmakers are also pushing for stricter noise regulations. The current definition of unsuitable noise — a day-night average of 65 decibels — was set in the 1970s and recent data suggests that number may be unhealthy.
Richards said he didn’t imagine the F-35 data would change the current noise map dramatically, saying “I don’t anticipate any big surprises.” He also said there would be no more homes demolished, no matter what the new noise projections estimate.
“I can assure you that we won’t be removing any more homes,” he said. “What we will be doing is purchasing them, insulating them from noise, and putting them back on the market.”
After the new noise map is produced, the airport’s Technical Advisory Committee will hold a public meeting at the airport to discuss the projections and elicit community response. Richards noted that minutes from the meetings will be posted online, and he encouraged all interested community members to attend.
Earlier this year, city councils in Burlington, South Burlington and Winooski adopted resolutions against the F-35 basing, largely due to noise concerns.
Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, a longtime proponent of the F-35 basing who declined to support a Burlington City Council resolution calling for an alternative mission for the Guard earlier this year, declined an interview about the noise maps. In a statement, Weinberger said he supported the airport’s decision to grant the consultants an extension.
“These noise exposure maps are important planning tools for the region, and creating them requires rigor and detail,” Weinberger said. “We look forward to releasing these maps early next year and then holding public hearings to discuss them directly with homeowners and other stakeholders.”
