"City pushes for reduction of noise from PDX flights"

Tuesday, May 18, 2004

City pushes for reduction of noise from PDX flights 
By JEFFREY MIZE
The Vancouver (WA) Columbian


Vancouver officials haven't given up on pushing more jetliner noise from
Portland International Airport away from downtown Vancouver. 

One plan, called Alternative 9a, which had been dismissed, hasn't lost any
supporters. Alternative 9a would shift the flight path for westbound
departures to south of Hayden Island and dramatically narrow the jet flight
path, from the current 11/2 miles wide to one-quarter mile. 

A 29-member advisory committee last month dropped that option from
consideration as it studies ways to reduce the number of people affected by
aircraft noise on both sides of the Columbia River. 

But Alternative 9a remained a top priority when city council members met
with Chris Corich, the airport's general manager for operations and
maintenance, on Monday afternoon to review the work completed and to go over
the next steps in what promises to be a three-year planning effort. 

Mayor Royce Pollard and Councilwoman Jeanne Harris asked Corich to revive
Alternative 9a and to forward it to the Federal Aviation Administration,
which will have final say over which options are implemented. 

"It's not our first choice," Corich told the city council. 

"I understand that," Pollard replied. "(But) I haven't heard the death
rattle on 9a." 

Congressman Brian Baird, D-Vancouver, also is applying pressure to the Port
of Portland, which owns and operates PDX. 

Baird sent a May 5 letter to Bill Wyatt, the port's executive director,
saying he was "deeply disturbed" by the decision to eliminate Alternative
9a. 

"As was repeatedly pointed out by Southwest Washington's representatives on
the committee, this option would cause a dramatic reduction in noise impact
for more than 6,500 people in the Vancouver and Portland areas," Baird
wrote. "No other option considered by the committee presented such a unique
opportunity to improve the quality of life for so many, an opportunity I do
not believe the port should lightly disregard." 

How many people would be affected by Alternative 9a depends on which noise
contour, or the footprint for a specific level of aircraft noise, is used. 

Corich told council members that Alternative 9a could shift aircraft noise
to roughly an equal number of Oregonians living south of downtown Vancouver,
based on the noise contour favored by the FAA. 

Port officials are trying to develop more accurate population and density
estimates than those provided by the 2000 census, Corich said. 

Alternative 9a also would deviate from using the Columbia River as the
flight corridor for jet traffic, a system that was established in the early
1980s, and would require the airport to push the path for Horizon commuter
flights and other turbo-propeller planes farther to the south. 

While the plan would appease Vancouver and Hayden Island residents, that
wouldn't be the FAA's top consideration. The FAA's top priority is safety,
followed by airport capacity, Corich said. 

"Noise is not as high up on the screen," he said. "I'm not saying it's not
an issue for them, but it's third on their screen, quite frankly." 

Corich said the preliminary package of recommendations would benefit Clark
County residents in several other ways, including moving the flight path to
the south for eastbound departing jets, so they are equal distance from
residential areas in Washington and Oregon.


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