Aviation Conspiracy Newsletter #459........................................................................December 16, 2007 Past newsletters can be accessed at: http://pages.prodigy.net/rockaway/ACNewsmenu.htm The PASSUR airport flight tracking system at many major U.S. airports http://www.passur.com/sites.htm (you must have Java installed to view it). If you want to get the newsletter sent to you every week, sign up to AviationWatch. Bill Mulcahy rockaway@prodigy.net
Quote of the Week: "Our results indicate excess risks of hypertension related to long term noise exposure, primarily for night-time aircraft noise" excerpt from the "conclusions" of the European Union funded study on "Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports"
Communities Demand Health Impact Assessment Of Airspace Redesign Scheme!!!
As
Bill Sees It (Editorial): New
Jersey Environmental Group Demands Governor Assess Health Impact Of FAA Plan!!! Robert
Belzer, president of New
Jersey Citizen Against Aircraft Noise (NJCAAN), is demanding New Jersey's governor,
Jon Corzine (picture below left), stop the implementation of the new FAA routing plan until there is
study of the actual impacts the aircraft noise will have on the
health of the victims in New Jersey. This plan was recently approved by the
bi-state agency called the Port Authority. While New York and New Jersey 
governors
apparently support the airspace rerouting plan, Connecticut's Governor Rell is fighting
it!!! Gov. Corzine shares control over the Port Authority of New York
and New Jersey, along with New York's Governor Spitzer. The Port Authority NEVER
would have approved the FAA scheme without these politicians support. Mr.
Belzer refers to a recent European Union commission study
that links aircraft
noise to serious health impacts, like hypertension. These governors
apparently approve of the FAA's phony method of determining noise impacts that does not include other
"ambient" background noise in their distorted formula. The people of
New Jersey should wake up to the fact, like New Yorkers have, that their
governor works for "special interests" and cares little for
their health and welfare. If the FAA airspace redesign plan goes into effect
this week, New Jersey voters should work to
make Corzine a one term governor like New York's governor Spitzer obviously will
be. Voters will have noisy planes over
their heads to remind them who sold them out. Congress
And EPA Have Also Sold Out American's Health To The Aviation Industry!!!
For years the EPA and the FAA have ignored 
the health impacts of aircraft noise on American citizens in order to please
their aviation industry corporate masters. While American politicians were busy
working to remove funding from the EPA's Office of Noise Abatement and
Control the FAA was busy looking for ways to hide the health effects of
noise pollution on Americans. It is no mistake that studies about the health
impacts of the ever-expanding aviation industry monster is not being done by the
U.S., but by other countries. It once again proves, what Americans are
discovering more and more every day, that "our" government is control
by greedy corporate interests which care little about our health and welfare.
And it's getting worse as more and more of these evil corporations become
"multi-national" with no allegiance to any country or its people and
only to the profit margin of their spread sheets.
European Union Commission
Exposes Health Impacts Of Aircraft Noise!!!
An increasing number of people are exposed to aircraft and road
traffic noise. Hypertension is an important
risk factor for cardiovascular disease and even a small contribution
in risk from environmental factors may have a major
impact on public health.
The HYENA study aimed to assess the relations between noise from aircraft or
road traffic near airports and the risk of
hypertension. Air traffic continues to increase world-wide, and recent forecasts
by the International Transport Association (IATA)
predict an average annual growth in the number passengers
of 4.3% until 2015. As a consequence the airspace is becoming crowded,
in particular in the vicinity of airports, and pollution increases from aircraft
exhaust emissions as well as from the associated road traffic. The study
population included persons 45-70 years old at the time of interview, with a
minimum length of residence of five years, living
near one of six major European airports (London
Heathrow, Berlin Tegel. Amsterdam Schiphol, Stockholm Arlanda, Milan Malpensa
and Athens Elephterios Venizelos airport). In Stockholm, the population living
near City Airport (Bromma) was also included to
increase the number of exposed subjects. To
maximize exposure contrast, we used a stratified sample of the population. Read
report at (you need Acrobat Reader installed): http://www.ehponline.org/members/2007/10775/10775.pdf
EPA Talks About Their "Unfunded" Office of Noise Abatement and
Control (ONAC) (from EPA website) In the past, EPA
coordinated all federal noise control activities through its Office of Noise
Abatement and Control. In 1981, the Administration at that time concluded that
noise issues were best handled at the state or local government level. As
a result, the EPA phased out the office's funding in 1982 as part of a shift in
federal noise control policy to transfer the primary responsibility of
regulating noise to state and local governments. The Noise Control Act of
1972 and the Quiet Communities Act of 1978, however, were not rescinded by
Congress and remain in effect today, although essentially unfunded. Note that all federal noise regulations remain in effect, and are enforced by
either EPA or a designated federal agency. These regulations cover
standards for transportation equipment, motor carriers, low-noise-emission
products, and construction equipment. You can view them at the Government
Printing Office Web site at: http://ecfr.gpoaccess.gov/cgi/t/text/text-idx?sid=8b62aa545305455a88fd40506ad10718&c=ecfr&tpl=/ecfrbrowse/Title40/40cfrv24_02.tpl
Editor's Note: This was the only time that an EPA office ever
was "unfunded." It still exists although I imagine it is just some guy
sitting in the office with a disconnected phone. That's the way the airline
industry and their paid stooges in congress like it.
ROCKLAND COUNTY NEW YORK CITIZENS TO HOLD 3 rd PROTEST OF FAA'S PLAN TO SEND HUNDREDS OF AIRPLANES DAILY THROUGH THE HEART OF THEIR COMMUNITY
· Rally Begins at 11am Sunday, December 16, 2007
· The Suffern Community Center, 41 Washington Ave in Village of Suffern - Rockland County, NY.
· Up to 600 flights per day will be routed less than 1 mile above Rockland County communities on descent to Newark Liberty International Airport.
· Residents are outraged that the FAA is rushing implementation ahead of the GAO Audit
ROCKLAND COUNTY, NY: Concerned Rockland residents will hold a 3rd rally Sunday to protest a federal plan to direct up to 600 new flights through the heart of the County, as part of a new proposed flight plan developed by the FAA in concert with commercial airlines.
"Having recently discovered that the FAA is looking to rush the implementation of the plan, Rockland County citizens en masse are organizing as quickly as possible to put a stop to this initiative, which threatens the security and quality of life of the citizens of Rockland and surrounding counties," said Tom Sullivan, Spokesman for the group Quiet Rockland.
"We are seeking volunteers to help us spread the word, contact elected officials, lobby Washington DC, support the County's litigation counsel, and sign paper and online petitions. We must stop the FAA from implementing this flawed plan," Sullivan continued.
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Important Aviation News Stories This Week
A
four year Key action 4 Environment and Health study
1 December 2002 - 30 November 2006
The
HYENA paper: 'Hypertension and Exposure to Noise near Airports - the HYENA
study' has been accepted by Environmental Health Perspectives and is
available online at: http://www.ehponline.org/members/2007/10775/10775.pdf
Background
Few
investigators have studied health effects associated with exposure to aircraft
noise. The overall evidence suggests that a weak association exists
between long-term noise exposure and high blood pressure or cardiovascular
disease, but studies to date have shown contradictory results. There
are some indications that the potential effects of noise on blood pressure may
be mediated via stress hormones.
Previous
studies have traditionally considered noise from a single specific source only,
such as aircraft or road traffic. Aircraft noise might be more annoying
than road traffic noise, but findings from previous studies are unclear.
Subjective attitudes towards the noise and the activities disturbed may
modify the effect of noise quite considerably.
Several
studies have shown excess risk of cardiovascular disease associated with air
pollution. Airports act as hotspots for both air pollution and noise.
Therefore, it may be important to consider exposure to ambient air pollution as
a possible confounder/effect modifier of the association between community noise
and high blood pressure/cardiovascular disease. The main source of noise,
however, tends to derive from aircraft movements, while much of the air
pollution is associated with road transport generated by the airports.
Objectives
The
overall project aim is to assess the impacts on cardiovascular health of noise
generated by aircraft and road traffic. The project will evaluate the
modifying effects of air pollution on noise associated cardiovascular effects,
and will analyse the difference in blood pressure resulting from different noise
exposure patterns. The role of annoyance and sleep disturbances due to
noise, on blood pressure, will be assessed, and the impact of aircraft and road
traffic noise on stress hormone levels will be investigated. Acute changes
in blood pressure following short-term changes in noise levels will be assessed.
The
specific objectives are:
·
To analyse
the exposure-response relationships in adults between long-term exposure to
airport related noise and high blood pressure.
·
To evaluate
the modifying effects of traffic related air pollution (NO2, PM) on noise
associated cardiovascular risk factors and cardiovascular disease.
·
To analyse
the difference in blood pressure resulting from different noise exposure
patterns.
·
To assess
the possible modifying effects by annoyance and sleep disturbances due to road
and aircraft noise, on blood pressure.
·
To analyse
the impact of aircraft and road traffic noise on stress hormone levels.
·
To analyse
the effects of noise exposure on high blood pressure in susceptible subgroups of
the population.
·
To provide
scientific basis and support for guidelines for a European policy on noise
abatement.
Methods
The
project includes cross-sectional studies near major airports in Germany (Berlin
Tegel), Greece (Athens), Italy (Milano Malpensa), the Netherlands (Amsterdam
Schiphol), Sweden (Stockholm Arlanda) and the UK (London Heathrow), including a
total of 6,000 study subjects.
The
studies will use uniform methods for the assessment of noise exposure and health
effects (blood pressure, ischaemic heart disease). Stress hormones will be
determined in saliva and disturbance/annoyance will be investigated using
questionnaires. Exposure to air pollution will be assessed at selected
airports. Random effects models allowing for repeated measurements in
selected individuals will be used to assess short-term changes in blood pressure
following changes in noise levels. A pooled analysis and an overall
evaluation of the results will be undertaken.
The studies are conducted in the vicinity of airports with a wide range of exposures, from low to high levels of noise exposure from different sources, which will allow for detailed analyses of exposure-response relationships for the general population as well as for susceptible subgroups