Noise News for Week of February 23, 1997


Residents Are Noise Hostages to Denver Aircraft Noise

PUBLICATION: Rocky Mountain News
DATE: February 28, 1997
SECTION: Editorial; Ed. F; Pg. 56A
BYLINE: Kendall and Sharon Haag Parker, residents
DATELINE: Denver, Colorado
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Kendall and Sharon Haag Parker, residents

The Rocky Mountain News printed the following letter-to-the-editor from Kendall and Sharon Haag Parker regarding the noise problems resulting from the Denver Airport.

Today we will suffer our two-year anniversary of being held noise hostages by the city of Denver and the FAA. Despite what has been reported in the media, the Denver International Airport noise problem has not been solved!

DIA officials say the noise problem has been fixed because complaints are down. That's fiction. The fact is that hundreds have complained for two years with little or no results. Do we have to keep calling at the same rate for the next two years or beyond?

Denver's politicians pushed for and their residents voted for the airport. To be fair, Denver must share the majority of planes. Most people in the city are oblivious to airplanes, anyway, since they already live with high levels of background noise.

We worked hard to achieve our rural lifestyle. We did not get a chance to vote on the airport. When are we going to be free? Is this fair? Reasonable? Prudent? Ethical? Responsible? You be the judge. I think Denver knows how we and hundreds of other families in Douglas, Elbert, Adams, and Boulder counties feel.

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Florida City Considers Noise Ordinance

PUBLICATION: The Stuart News / Port St. Lucie News
DATE: February 25, 1997
SECTION: Local; Pg. C1
BYLINE: Andy Crain
DATELINE: Stuart, Florida

The Stuart News / Port St. Lucie News reports that city commissioners in Stuart, Florida gave a favorable review Monday night to a draft of a noise ordinance that would help prohibit disturbing noise in the city.

The article says that the proposed ordinance defines "disturbing noise" and "amplified sound," and then goes on to prohibit creating them, according to City Attorney Carl Coffin. If it becomes law, the ordinance will allow police to issue citations to anyone making a disturbing noise or who fails to control an amplified sound. Coffin said the ordinance would apply to all types of noise. It would also punish people for allowing noise violations on their property.

According to the article, Police Chief Joan Waldron believes that while the ordinance would help, it may not be specific enough to be enforced in all cases. Waldron said, "We still have to identify what is a neighborhood. If we have one person complaining, does that constitute a neighborhood?" Coffin said that if a case went to court, having several residents and a police officer who heard the offending noise probably would be sufficient, the article reports.

Exemptions to the noise ordinance include planes, trains, special public events, and vehicles operated by city employees such as fire trucks, police cars, and trash trucks. The city manager also would have the power to issue waivers under the ordinance. Commissioners reacted favorably to the proposed ordinance, and asked Coffin to write another draft on which they could vote March 10 at the next commission meeting, the article reports. Commissioner Karl Krueger Jr. asked Coffin to specifically mention barking dogs in the next version of the ordinance.

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Environmental Groups Challenge FAA Park Overflights Act

PUBLICATION: The Planet - Sierra Club Activist Resource (San Francisco, CA)
DATE: March 1997
SECTION: Follow Up (Updates on Sierra Club Campaigns); Pg. 6
DATELINE: Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Rob Smith, Sierra Club Southwest representative

The Sierra Club's activist resource, The Planet, reports a number of environmental groups are not happy with the Federal Aviation Administration's current restriction of airplane and helicopter overflights in Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona. These groups, including the Sierra Club, are challenging the FAA ruling, charging it to be inadequate.

According to The Planet, at the same time that some tour operators say the ruling is too stringent, environmentalists believe the FAA ruling falls short of the 1987 Overflights Act mandate to restore natural quiet. One serious shortcoming, according to the environmentalists, is allowing tours to continue through the "Dragon" tour corridor and failing to limit the number of overflights.

This article quotes one environmentalist who is concerned about the inadequacy of the FAA ruling: "You simply cannot protect the character of the Grand Canyon by continuing to allow unlimited flights over some of the most popular backcountry areas," said Rob Smith, representative of the Sierra Southwest.

The Planet reports that the FAA has failed to follow through on a Presidential mandate made by Mr. Clinton on Earth Day 1996. It was then that President Clinton ordered the FAA to come up with guidelines "to protect the Grand Canyon and other national parks from the growing invasion of air tour racket."

The Planet urges environmentalists to write President Clinton, pressing him to demand the FAA limit overflights. Activists are encouraged to tell the President to restore the natural quiet to park areas that "are incessantly bombarded with aircraft noise."

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Previous week: February 16, 1997
Next week: March 30, 1997

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