The "Study" did not study the impact of DIA over flights in Boulder County. The County along with its neighbors, Latimer and Jefferson Counties, were dropped from the Study zone due to software model limitations which were not identified in the initial scoping of this Study, and under the guise that noise in a certain area of Douglas County was of greater impact than the noise known to exist in the counties excluded from the Study. This was done without any discussion, notification, or consultation with Boulder County officials. Study Group meetings were scheduled with limited notice and the agenda was poorly defined at the time of scheduling. Furthermore, there is no indication that flight pattern adjustments in areas included in the Study will not negatively impact the areas left out of the Study.
Although the scoping of the Study defined that noise impacts needed to be "defensible" to the recognized FAA noise modeling methodology, the Study was to address the noise problems in the remotely impacted areas that do not fit the Urban Noise DNL (LDN) measurement system. These averaging noise metrics do not adequately consider the impact of DIA over flights in low ambient noise areas that consist of remote and pristine prairies and mountain wilderness areas.
Boulder County Commissioners and Taxpayers are outraged at the misuse of their funds used to pay for this Study and by the irresponsible actions taken by the City of Denver and its legal and technical consultants. The exclusion of Boulder County from the Study grid has cheated the citizens of Boulder County out of due process. The draft of the Study report should not have been released to the press until the pre defined procedure was followed through its conclusion, i.e., voting by the members of the Group on the recommendations of the independent consultant Wyle Labs. We demand that the Study be revised to the requirements set out in the scoping documents at no additional cost to the members of the Study Group. Any decisions regarding the sixth runway should remain in limbo, until the existing noise problems are resolved and the recommended adjustments to the flights paths are monitored for their expected results. Otherwise, the sixth runway may prove to be an obstacle too expensive to allow for proper and meaningful abatement of the existing noise problems. The report does not indicate that the construction of a sixth runway will not negatively impact all areas.
The citizens of Boulder County, as stewards of our National treasure, The Indian Peaks Wilderness Area, demand the termination of the DIA departure route that has destroyed the peace and tranquility of Indian Peaks. This Wilderness Area was guaranteed federal protection under the Wilderness Act of 1964 yet it has been sonicly pillaged and plundered since DIA opened on February 28, 1995. It is time to overrule the FAA's reckless disregard for our national treasures. The airspace to the south of the Wilderness Area is virtually void of traffic The old route utilized by Stapleton to the south of Indian Peaks worked for thirty years. The flight check excuse touted by the FAA is simply hogwash!
Boulder County citizens are disgusted with the gross inaccuracies and misstatement of the facts released into the media by the representatives of the City of Denver and the airport management. DIA earned the status of the noisiest airport in the country during its first two years of operation. Just because people are tired of complaining to a telephone answering machine does not mean that the problem has somehow miraculously been resolved. Yet these representatives tout a reduction in complaints as their only evidence that the noise problem is resolved. Furthermore, the misrepresentation of the facts regarding conversion to Stage III are unconscionable. The misinformation delivered by the newspapers and television reporters has the general public believing that conversion to Stage 3 means that only brand new aircraft will be flying in the skies by as early as November 1999. Meanwhile the aircraft traffic increases to capacity over high complaint flight paths with only a 5 to 8 dB reduction per incident. The real result is more noise in the form of a pulsating drone that lasts all day and well into the night. Hush Kits are not effective noise abatement, especially in remote areas. We have the manufacturers performance measurements to prove this fact. Even the DIA Noise Abatement Office has stated that Hush Kit retrofitted aircraft which are then reclassified as Stage III will not meet the requirements of the Adams County IGA. If these aircraft are unfit to fly over the high ambient noise level cities of Northglenn, Thorton, and Brighton, how is it appropriate that they are allowed to fly over low ambient level areas like the mountains of Boulder County or our precious Indian Peaks Wilderness Area?
These comments were prepared by:
Edward Wiegand, President Boulder County Citizens Against Aviation Noise 1705 14th Street, #242 Boulder, CO 80302 (303) 415 3797
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