Reducing Noise is Looking Up
Maria Thi Mai
As a Kenton Neighborhood resident Commissioner Sam Adams is quite familiar with North Portland noise issues. He has met with several of the Neighborhood Associations, members of the AIR, CNAC, and individuals on airport noise.
In response to these concerns Gordon Johnston and I formed an ad hoc committee to explore alternatives to reducing airport noise impacts. This ad hoc committee includes staff from the FAA, the Port of Portland, and the City of Portland and Vancouver; air cargo operators; and Portland and Vancouver area residents.
In tandem with this effort is the Port of Portland’s update of the Part 150 Noise Compatibility Management Plan where residents shared significant concerns about noise from regional cargo (box hauler) aircraft. Over 120 cargo flights are made in and out of PDX each day mostly in the early morning and early evening hours.
This ad hoc committee held 2 meeting in May to determined committee membership and the role, arrival and departure flight path alternatives, and the committee shelf life. The next meeting is the upcoming flight test day, June 18th and the final review meeting will be scheduled for a day during the week of July 25-29.
What’s Next?
Saturday, June 18th from 9 am to 3 pm has been scheduled (pending flyable weather) to test the aeronautical and technical feasibility of alternative flight paths. Residents and acoustical professionals will be listening, observing and measuring noise levels from various sites on the ground. Saturday, June 25 and Sunday, June 26 are scheduled as alternative “rain” dates should flying not be possible.
Following these test flights, the acoustical data and flight data will be analyzed and presented to the committee for discussion and recommendation. These recommendations will then be forwarded to the Port, the Neighborhoods, and others for a larger public discussion and review.
Let us know what you think about airport noise. We're listening.
Posted by Maria Thi Mai on June 14, 2005
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Filed Under Livability & Environment, North Portland, Northeast Portland
Comments by site visitors
Box haulers fly over the chimney of my house in NE Portland every day making a horrendous noise that shake the house. Besides the noise, a more important issue is homeland security. These small propeller airplanes are poorly regulated and available to terrorists. It would be very easy to steal, rent, or buy one of these planes and then drop lethal agents right onto our heads. What better method of dispersal besides dumping radioactive material out of the window of the plane. It is easier than creating a dirty bomb to achieve optimal dispersal. I have written to our local homeland security agents about this danger only to be referred to the FAA. Do we have to wait until it actually happens? I proposed flight patterns following the rivers and avoiding densely populated areas. So far, I notice no reduction in the number of flights and the threat continues.
Posted by: Hank Popiela | Aug 25, 2005 11:58:16 AM
As a resident of Kenton, I'm excited to read that Sam Adams has made noise abatement in our neighborhood a priority. The train whistle wakes me all hours of the night! I've been to several Neighborhood Association Meetings to discuss this and PIR's noise pollution. I've heard a range of responses. I believe if people were given the choice, most would prefer to have a quieter North Portland. Unfortunately, many are simply apathetic or too busy with jobs, families, etc. to speak out or attend meetings.
I've read a couple of studies on train whistle bans in the U.S. Project Whistle Stop, Inc. in Florida is a rather well known case. It seems that there has been an effort to collect data indicating that these whistle bans lead to an increase in traffic accidents at railway crossings. So, I believe, the real 'trick' for us is to demonstrate how a night-time ban at certain crossings could work. Aren't the gates and lights enough though?
Fingers crossed,
Rob
Posted by: Rob | Aug 26, 2005 6:30:09 PM
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Congrats on getting the airport/faa to the table to discuss airport noise issues in NE PDX. A new problem is has started to crop up. I filed a noise complaint with the airport on 7/22 when I was awakened in the middle of the night at 0300 by the oh-so-familiar sound of a chain-saw motor attached to a turbo prop aircraft. the other night i was awaked at 0158 again, under the same circumstances. the airport left a lengthy message on my answering machine in response to my complaint. it was very "ho-hum...we're working on it." personally. i cannot, for the life of me, understand why on earth the airport would need ANYONE to fly over a residential neighborhood in such a LOUD contraption at 0300. there cannot possibly be a good reason.
is it not bad enough they spray our ambient breathing space during daytime hours with hazardous air pollutants?
is it not bad enough NE/N PDX already has double the national incidence rate of asthma per household. is it not bad enough we have and obnoxiously high federal cancer risk benchmark. top that off with a radon problem which also causes lung cancer. is it not bad enough i cannot hear my family speak to me in my own house in the same room when they fly 30 feet above my roof in the evenings?
what is the use in working with the Port/Faa? living by the airport is like living with an unruly teenager. they just tell us what we want to hear then turn around and do whatever they please. when is it time to turn on the legal heat? the Port is making it perfectly clear they don't plan to return our community to a decent, acceptable standard of liveability out of the kindness of their hearts...as if they even have any!
when do we see some real results?
Posted by: Linda | Jul 27, 2005 1:09:57 PM