A new noise exposure map adjusted for the coming arrival of F-35s at Burlington International Airport is not expected to trigger any home demolitions.
“I don’t anticipate homes being removed,” airport aviation director Gene Richards told Seven Days Wednesday.
The map will be released to the public during an airport open house from 5 to 7 p.m. on May 29. The City of Winooski will host its own open house the following day from 5 to 7 p.m. at the O’Brien Community Center.
Richards declined to release a copy of the noise map Wednesday, saying it was still in draft form. Seven Days has filed a public records request for the document.
Residents who live in the flight path have eagerly awaited the updated noise study.
The F-35s are expected to be considerably louder than the recently retired F-16 jets, and they are scheduled to arrive in September. The new map could have different “noise contours” than previous Federal Aviation Administration maps.
Concern about noise goes back decades and ramped up in the heated public debate about basing the F-35s at the Vermont Air National Guard. Its hangars are across the runway from the commercial passenger terminal at the airport.
Although located in South Burlington, the airport is owned and operated by the City of Burlington. Over the years, the airport has purchased and demolished more than 145 homes in South Burlington under an FAA-funded program to compensate homeowners when airport noise is deemed intolerable under federal standards.
Some homeowners were happy to be bought out. But critics, including members of the South Burlington City Council, said the demolitions wiped out a coveted stock of affordable homes close to jobs, shops and schools. In some cases, even newly constructed homes were slated for teardown.
On Wednesday, Richards emphasized that his boss, Burlington Mayor Miro Weinberger, has gone on record saying the airport would try to avoid any more demolitions.
“I think this administration has been pretty straightforward that they have no wish to remove any more homes,” Richards said.
The new map will make some homes eligible for soundproofing grants. If the airport were to purchase any homes down the road, it would be on a temporary basis only, Richards added. “If somebody didn’t want to have their home soundproofed, and they wanted to sell it, and it was part of the [grant] program, then we would consider buying it, insulating it and putting it back on the market,” he said.
Once the public has a chance to study the new noise projections, the next step is to apply for FAA grants to soundproof eligible homes. The money would be dispersed in 24 to 36 months, Richards said.
Chamberlin Elementary School, just a few blocks from the airport, is also affected by jet noise. It would likely qualify for installation of a ventilation system and air conditioning so that its windows and doors can stay closed to keep out the flight noise.
However, according to an April 30 letter from airport deputy director of aviation Nic Longo to South Burlington schools superintendent David Young, the district must commit to pay 10 percent of the cost in order for the airport to seek FAA grant funding.
Young updated the South Burlington School Board on the issue Wednesday night. The board is weighing the matter, he said via email Thursday. As of now, there is no firm estimate on what the city’s share would be, he added.
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Noise insulation? The homes are going to need body armor to protect against the nukes.
If you think the guard is getting nukes have you clearly done no research on the nuclear triad. We have ICBMs, submarines, long range bombers (ya know the aircraft that start with a “B” eg. B52, not the F35) and all of those are active duty resorces. There are specific requirements for security and storage of such munitions that a base SHARING A RUNWAY WITH CIVILIANS can not meet. The day all of those federal assets were taken out and it was up to the guard the would probably already be dead. Orical stop fear mongering.
“Noise insulation? The homes are going to need body armor to protect against the nukes.”
What nukes? Do you just say stuff because you feel like it?
The noise levels will be like standing in front of a rock band at full volume.
It will be that loud for folks on the ground. Here’s some research on decibels:
“According to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (1998), continued exposure to noise above 85 dB(A) will likely cause permanent hearing loss. The maximum exposure time at 85 dB(A) is 8 hours, which should be followed by 16 hours of quiet recovery time. At 110 dB(A), the maximum exposure time is approximately one minute and 29 seconds. ”
An F-35 can produce 140 db taking off, 120 db in flight – with afterburners shut off.
They’re twice as loud as the F-18s.
Look at a decibel chart here: https://boomspeaker.com/noise-level-chart-…
So, folks, we have a situation.
Remember people saying the jets are “the sound of freedom”? Well, they won’t be able to hear it for long.
Why the hell does the school district have to “pay 10 percent of the cost in order for the airport to seek FAA grant funding.”? Neither the schools nor the homeowners have a choice that these obscenely loud and dangerous warplanes are being based in their backyards, but the HAVE TO PAY for noise mitigation??? How is this moral, right or fair?
Just another example of how the F35s will exert extreme negative environmental, health, safety impacts on thousands of Vermonters in order to expand militarism in our state and benefit a tiny fraction of the population. Vermonters don’t want this flawed and dysfunctional plane that has had 2 CRASHES in the last six months and multiple engine fires prior to that.
WHY aren’t the Mayor of Burlington and VT’s congressional delegation calling for a halt in the basing until more flight hours are accumulated and a proven safety record established?
Saying Vermonters do not want the F35s is an inaccurate statement. some do some do not.
Look out NEK. Chittenden County is getting nukes. No more bad mouthing us about the Coventry landfill. Yo will take our garbage and like it.
I am not worried about the nukes. I think Trump can negotiate peace between North and South Burlington. The planes on the other hand, I can do without them. A plane that big and loud is way too much for that little airport.
Miro shouldn’t say anything we know how he tells lies
So the city of Burlington can buy houses in South Burlington on the cheap using federal dollars, can outfit them with soundproofing, and then flip them? And the houses that have been demolished? Whats the plan for those lots? Hotels and what else? Sounds like what it always has been… a big profitable development land grab with help from the sound of freedom crowd…