As
Bill
Sees It: (Editorial): Who
Will Get The Philadelphia Airport Airspace Redesign Overflight Noise?
I see that newly elected Pennsylvania Congressman Joe Sestac (below left) has
threatened, in a guest editorial, to sue the FAA because of the planned increase
in overflights caused by the FAA's Airspace Redesign scheme. It's the old story,
expanding aviation and the FAA looking for new places to dump increased flights and the
soon-to-be-blasted communities fighting back. The routing 
map on the right
from the 
dump
overflights on the politically weak, "preferred" communities. After
the FAA bosses make their deals with the politicians, The will look for anything
they can find, like a railroad yard, body of water or sewage treatment plant in
the targeted community and then use that as a reason to overfly that community.
COMPLETELY ignoring the human impacts no matter how 
densely populated the
community is!!! I wonder
which late night "heading" and which community will be chosen as the
preferred, late night overflight dumping ground for Philadelphia Airport? The
FAA's Unfair, Corrupt And POLITICAL Aircraft Routing Process!!! Even though a
community has a flight heading over it does not mean it will get heavy
overflights. A good example of this political and unscientific process can be
seen at JFK Airport. Late night (midnight to 7 a.m.) flight are routed over
politically weak, poor and minority and densely populated "preferred late
night overflight" areas in Rockaway while the wealthy and
white area of Lawrence, Long Island gets almost completely avoided. It is no
mistake that JFK Airport departures are not even listed in the Airspace Redesign
Draft EIS or the recent Operational Update. This is because the FAA wants to
hide the fact that they intend to continue and increase their overflights over
Rockaway. My letters and complaints about the
avoidance of any analysis of these impacts and the continuation and increase of
these impacts on the poor and minority areas of Rockaway, N.Y. City were
completely ignored by the FAA in their recent Airspace Redesign
"update." Suing The FAA:
I disagree with those who say that lawsuits
cannot 
be won against the FAA. 
the FAA criminals delight in polluting the sky
with their streaks of toxic pollutants. New
York: Stewart Airport Takeover Now Said To Be "Weeks" Away!!! Typical
of the corruption, lies and rottenness that surrounds aviation and airports, in
a 
Congressman
Hall that the bi-state Port Authority will sign the takeover lease in "two
to four weeks!!!" Hall announced this at a meeting with "local
officials" but has not yet had one public meeting on the takeover.
This is just the latest indication of the deception involving the building of
what many believe will be a giant, air cargo hub for the N.Y. City area. Incredibly,
while ignoring the calls for a public hearing on the worst environmental impact
ever to hit the Hudson Valley region of New York, Hall 
Congressman
Sestac (D-Pa) Says In Guest Editorial That Airspace Redesign Scheme Must Be
Stopped!!! We need to stop the FAA's current airspace redesign proposal.
It will have a serious, negative impact on our quality of life, ranging from
sound and noise and their impact on educational development and health, to the
impact on ground safety and our property values. Because of this, I established
an Advisory Board consisting of local and national aviation experts immediately
after the election and before I was even sworn into Congress. This board
assessed, quantified and reported with compelling data the negative impacts of
the FAA's proposal on Delaware County residents covering these critical areas
and developed a multi-part plan to address this issue. In fact, I spoke with
Administrator Blakey to lay out what needs to be done to fully mitigate any
impact on the safety, health, education and property values of my constituents
and stressed that the airspace redesign process needs to be delayed until all
concerns are addressed, despite the Administrator noting that the process
started 10 years ago. I also discussed the option of litigation,
informing Administrator Blakey that it was a necessary option if the process was
not delayed to take account of the issues we raised and to have the noise impact
fully mitigated. Editor's Note: The whole rotten Airspace Redesign scheme
should be litigated not only for Rep. Sestac's constituents but for all the
FAA's victims. Who will get the overflights if the FAA backs down and makes a
deal to avoid Rep. Sestac's constituents? http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=18185672&BRD=1675&PAG=461&dept_id=18168&rfi=6
Pennsylvania: FAA's Airspace Redesign
"Disaster" For Impacted Communities!!! The noise is growing louder. And it’s not the rumbling of overhead jets.
Well, actually it is. But it’s also the sound of both sides digging in their
heels and venting their spleens over the controversial plan to redesign flight
paths around Philadelphia International Airport. This much the Federal Aviation
Administration and Delaware County officials agree on: The airport, much like
similar facilities all across the Northeast, is broken and needs to be fixed.
It’s how to fix it, and how much pain the cure will inflict on Delaware
County, that has the two sides sniping at each other. Back in March the feds
offered their preferred solution, which would allow departing planes that now
normally follow the Delaware River as they climb to an altitude above 3,000 feet
to instead take what amounts to a right turn at much lower altitudes, putting
them over the heart of Delaware County. The reaction here in the county was
swift and decisive. County Council boss Andy Reilly, who went to D.C. himself
for the FAA’s announcement, termed the plan a "disaster" for the
county. Residents from Ridley Park to Haverford also raised their voices against
the increased noise and possible reduction in their property values, to say
nothing of the potential for catastrophe of all those added flights over heavily
populated areas of the county. Reilly was adamant that the proposed
"cure" would do little to ease the number one problem at the airport,
on-time performance. 
Health
Effects of Noise on Children: "Calling noise a
nuisance is like calling smog an inconvenience," said Dr. William H.
Stewart, former U.S. Surgeon General. "Noise must be considered a hazard to
the health of people everywhere." Studies and research conducted by the
American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Institute of Public Health, the
Department of Public Health and the National Noise Center, the National Center
for Environmental Health and the World Health Organization, unanimously list the
harmful effects of noise as multiple, far-reaching and, in some cases,
irreversible. Those can include hearing loss or impairment, interference with
speech communication, disturbance of rest and sleep, mental-health and
performance effects, effects on residential behavior and annoyance, performance
reduction as well as interference with intended activities. Studies are also
underway to corroborate a theory potentially linking noise to another serious
condition, Menieres Disease, which causes fluctuating hearing loss, tinnitus
(ringing in the ear), bouts of vertigo and headaches. Because noise causes
stress, it elicits an increased adrenaline reaction, affecting the
cardiovascular system, changing heart rate and causing a rise in blood pressure.
Because of this, I established an Advisory Board consisting of local and
national aviation experts immediately after the election and before I was even
sworn into Congress. This board assessed, quantified and reported with
compelling data the negative impacts of the FAA's proposal on Delaware County
residents covering these critical areas and developed a multi-part plan to
address this issue.
In early January I met with Deputy Secretary of Transportation Maria Cino
about the report of the Aviation Advisory Board to underscore the impact of
the FAA's proposed airspace redesign on Delaware County's citizens.
As a result, she arranged for the first time since the FAA's airspace redesign
has been proposed that the FAA's Airspace Redesign Manager be permitted to
directly answer questions from concerned citizens on this issue. We held that
public town hall in Ridley Township.
I also brought up Congressman Jerry Costello, Chairman of the U.S. House of
Representatives Subcommittee on Aviation, to Delaware County to provide
elected and community leaders with the opportunity to directly present their
views about how the FAA Airspace Redesign will impact Delaware County
residents, as well as to hear the flaws of the proposal from the Expert
Advisory Board. This event, which consisted of a series of briefings by FAA
Airspace Manager Steve Kelley and the Expert Advisory Board, resulted in
Chairman Costello contacting FAA Administrator Marion Blakey the next day to
say he wanted her to receive our panel's presentation, which he noted was the
most informative, insightful, and professional presentation on an FAA issue
during his 18 years serving on the Aviation Subcommittee.
In fact, I spoke with Administrator Blakey to lay out what needs to be done to
fully mitigate any impact on the safety, health, education and property values
of my constituents and stressed that the airspace redesign process needs to be
delayed until all concerns are addressed, despite the Administrator noting
that the process started 10 years ago. I also discussed the option of
litigation, informing Administrator Blakey that it was a necessary option if
the process was not delayed to take account of the issues we raised and to
have the noise impact fully mitigated. In response, Administrator Blakey will
be meeting on April 20 with Chairman Costello, myself, the Expert Advisory
Board, and other Members of Congress, including Congressman Rob Andrews -
whose district is impacted by increased landings due to the redesign - to
discuss the need to delay the process as necessary to give time to address our
concerns and then explore other redesign options.
Our efforts have already had an impact, although more needs to be done.
Instead of four initial departure routes going over Delaware County, now there
is one. Originally 113,000 people were impacted by the FAA's original
proposal, now there are 7,000. But that is still 7000 too many, and while this
shows there has been progress in working with FAA, we cannot stop until all
noise is eliminated. The FAA uses a standard on noise levels to assess when
noise has any impact. That level is too high, and I - and others such as the
EPA - want that standard to be lower. In addition, the FAA must also include
the costs of noise on our residents' educational development and health,
ground safety, and our property values in its assessments, forcing the FAA to
then pursue other options once the true cost of noise and its impact are
included. Bottom line: no one should be negatively impacted by this airspace
redesign proposal, and all noise and its impact must be eliminated.
I also support litigation as a necessary option, but I also recognize that
the FAA has eventually won 12 of the 13 cases litigated against it on
redesigns in recent history (in the one case in which the FAA lost, it was due
to the FAA not following the process as required by the law).
Therefore, I am also working with Congressman Rob Andrews (D-NJ) to develop
legislation to delay or stop the process as necessary until both of our
concerns on the FAA's proposed airspace redesign on our citizens' safety,
health, education, and property values are addressed and other options - such
as outlying airfields-are pursued.
This airspace redesign proposal has been working for over five years, but if
we now work together on three primary avenues - two of which I have begun that
have not been pursued before over those years - to address this issue we can
do what is best for the people of Delaware County to stop the FAA proposal.
That is why I am working as follows: (1) I will continue to work with the FAA
to lay out what needs to be done to fully mitigate any impact on the safety,
health, education and property values of Delaware County residents so that the
airspace redesign process is delayed until all concerns are addressed and
there is no noise impact; (2) I am working on legislation, including in the
FAA Reauthorization Bill, to similarly address our concerns by stopping the
airspace proposal until a new process is followed to eliminate noise; and (3)
I support litigation as necessary to help us achieve our goal.
All of these options need to be pursued at the appropriate time, and some
simultaneously, to ensure that we approach this problem from all angles. This
is my number one local issue, and I will continue to work with you and
everyone involved in this issue to address all of our concerns. The hour may
be late, and the agenda still long, but we must not stop until this proposal
is stopped as presently still designed... and with no noise.
U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7, of Edgmont, represents much of Delaware County in the U.S. Congress.