Lexington Minuteman
Thursday, October 3, 2002

Noise on the table at Hanscom meeting

By Barbara Forster / Correspondent

The subject of aviation noise from Hanscom Air Field and the effects of increased aviation on cultural and historical resources were on the table for discussion during a four-hour meeting at Bedford Town Hall on Saturday morning, Sept. 28.

Although numerous questions were raised about cultural resources, the communities environmental experts asked relatively few questions about noise. Instead in a statement regarding aviation noise, Sanford Fidell of Fidell Associates, Inc. in California, the towns' expert on the issue, argued that relying on standard noise models created by the Federal Aviation Administration not necessarily in the communities' best interests.

Fidell pointed out that the mission of the FAA is to promote aviation -- general, commercial and in-between. Therefore outcomes of noise models they created are hardly surprising.

"The predictions (by Massport) are saying that the future is just like the past only more so," he said.

What is critical, however, are the assumptions - which he described as "over-simplified" - used by the model to interpret data.

Take noise contours, he suggested, which are not absolutely accurate.

"In some cases, noise directly underneath the flight path is over-estimated," he said.

Fidell also argued that, to be truly informative, the noise models should reveal noise exposure under full use situations. Instead they model hypothetical conditions that never occur. Furthermore because aviation activity forecasts only include a small number of specific scenarios rather than a broad range of possibilities, the end result is that "today's guesses are about a couple of scenarios."

Both sides did, however, agree that the noise model lacks fairly common standard scientific study language. Lexington's Julian Bussgang, co-chairman of the Environmental Sub-Committee established by the Hanscom Area Towns Committee to review the document, noted the absence of error documentation.

"We've asked the FAA about the error analysis of the model," said Mary Ellen Eagan of Harris Miller Miller & Hanscom, Inc., Massport's noise consultants. "But they haven't responded so far."

- Where is MN Park Located?

"According to the maps (in the document), it looks like the park abuts Massport property," said Chris Davis of Minute Man National Historical Park. "But at least 50 acres of the airport is in the park."

The facts are that both situations are correct. The park's boundaries, which were established by Congress, go beyond land that is specifically owned by the park. Some of the acreage is owned by Massport and some by the state. The park could purchase the land if the sellers wanted to deal. Maps in the document show only land owned by the park.

Aside from the geographic observation, Davis continued that the discrepancy affects statements in the review that only the Wheeler-Merriam House and "some parts of the park would experience noise levels beyond the 65 decibel level" - a range of one to two decibels - in future years. He pointed out that not showing those boundaries affects how the analysis of noise contours on historic districts.

"All your figures have eliminated the historic districts (in parts of the park)," he said.

The meeting was one of the technical workshops co-hosted by Massport and the four Hanscom towns to review a document Massport has prepared for the state on possible future environmental effects of increased aviation at the field.

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