PUBLICATION: The Associated Press State & Local Wire
DATE: July 10, 1999
SECTION: State And Regional
DATELINE: Flushing, Michigan
The Associated Press State & Local Wire reports that police in Flushing, Michigan have been cracking down on loud car stereos this summer using a 1992 noise ordinance. The ordinance includes a $500 fine or 90-day jail term for violators. Officers have been using unmarked cars to enforce the ordinance, so violators don't recognize patrol cars and lower the volume.
The article reports that police in Flushing, Michigan have "dusted off" a 1992 noise ordinance fashioned after a similar one in Flint. Police have been cracking down on loud car stereos this summer using the ordinance, which allows officers to levy a $500 fine or 90-day jail sentence.
The article notes that police have had trouble enforcing the ordinance in the past, since violators adjust their volume when police cars drive by. Officers have been using unmarked cars recently, and catch far more unsuspecting violators.
PUBLICATION: The Daily News of Los Angeles
DATE: July 10, 1999
SECTION: News, Pg. N3
BYLINE: Jesse Hiestand
DATELINE: Los Angeles, California
The Daily News of Los Angeles reports that a public hearing today will give residents a chance to talk to the top regional official of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about noise levels surrounding the Van Nuys Airport. A local Representative set up the meeting after a 1998 survey prompted 5,000 responses from angry residents who are bothered by noise.
The article reports that a public hearing today will give residents a chance to talk to the top regional official of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) about noise levels surrounding the Van Nuys Airport. Local Representative Brad Sherman set up the meeting to address resident concerns that noise issues aren't being adequately addressed.
The article continues, noting that flight patterns at all airports in the Los Angles are currently being reviewed by the FAA. Recently, a curfew that limits the times during which noisy Stage 2 jets can take off was extended. Sherman got serious about the noise issue after a 1998 survey of residents near the airport prompted 5,000 responses.
PUBLICATION: Roanoke Times & World News
DATE: July 10, 1999
SECTION: Business, Pg. A5, Industry
BYLINE: Jeff Sturgeon
DATELINE: Roanoke, Virginia
The Roanoke Times & World News reports that industry, which is moving increasingly into Western Virginia, is causing noise problems for residents. Frito-Lay and Johnson and Johnson are some of the big-name companies whose factories have created noise problems. While these factories often employ many people in the community, they also are commonly convinced to locate in a particular community that offers taxpayer money as an incentive. Most neighbors accept factories but wish they would keep quiet at night.
The article reports that industry, which is moving increasingly into Western Virginia, is causing noise problems for residents. Frito-Lay's factory in Lynchburg has a noisy steam release that is exempt under the local ordinance, but keeps neighbors awake at night. The company has voluntarily installed noise baffles to try and reduce noise. The company employs 240 people and received $12 million in public aid to locate there.
The article goes on to discuss a truck-parts factory in Cloverdale that employs 125 people and received $800,000 in public money. The factory formerly dumped metal at all hours, but has since stopped after 8:30 PM and tried to quiet their constant fans. Neighbors are still bothered, saying that factories have a right to operate, but that nighttime should be quiet for neighbors.
The article also notes a planned Johnson and Johnson plant planned within 30 feet of a Roanoke apartment complex. Several have moved away in anticipation of the plant, and prospective tenants have never moved in.
The article concludes, noting that Lafayette will soon be home to a furniture plant, which will have roof-top air conditioners and likely increase traffic. The furniture plant will employ up to 800 people, and plans to help fund a proposed recreation center.
PUBLICATION: M2 Presswire
DATE: July 9, 1999
DATELINE: Washington, D.C.
The M2 Presswire reports that the FAA has announced its plan to reduce air-tour noise over Grand Canyon National Park as the next step in realizing a 1987 law that calls for restoration of natural quiet in the park. The law calls for at least half of the park to be free from aircraft noise for greater than 75% of the day; currently only 32 percent of the park is quiet that often, and the new plan will increase that number to 41 percent. The FAA has revised air tour routes over the park, modified 'flight-free' zones, and designed a system that allocates limited numbers of flights to individual air tour operators.
The article reports that the FAA has announced its plan to reduce air-tour noise over Grand Canyon National Park. Using input from the National Park Service, Native American groups, and local businesses, the FAA's plan is the latest step in realization of a 1987 law that calls for restoration of natural quiet in the park. The law, reaffirmed by President Clinton's 1996 Earth Day mandate, says that at least half of the park should be free from aircraft noise for greater than 75% of the day; currently only 32 percent of the park is quiet that often, and the new plan will increase that number to 41 percent.
The article notes that the FAA has revised air tour routes over the park, modified 'flight-free' zones, and designed a system that allocates limited numbers of flights to individual air tour operators. Aircraft will need to fly higher, and will need to avoid important Native American sites. An 'incentive corridor' has been established; this corridor will be usable by aircraft that meet the next generation of noise standards which are currently being developed. Each operator will be allocated the number of flights that they flew between May 1, 1997 and April 30, 1998; operators can give some of their allocation to other operators.
PUBLICATION: South Bend Tribune
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Local/Area, Pg. D3
DATELINE: David Martin
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Council member James Riegsecker, Town Manager Lowell Miller
The Birmingham Post reports that excessive noise ranging from quarreling neighbors and overly loud stereos to jet noises overhead have prompted an increase in noise activism in England.
Valerie Weedon, of the Noise Network, informed the Post that noise is stressful as well as unhealthy, but existing laws do not adequately address complaints.
According to the post, Weedon's new website will mark England's National Noise Action Day, and includes a Noise Manifesto for the Millennium.
The article reports that Weedon acknowledges that noise cannot be eliminated, but it can be reduced, and she called for people to show more consideration for their neighbors. Weedon also called for better wall insulating materials and quieter products added that decent wall insulation and quieter products were also essential.
Noise reduction advocate Richard Mill, who is general secretary of the National Society for Clean Air, asked for a national noise reduction strategy that will strengthen the existing noise policy in the UK.
PUBLICATION: Bristol Evening Post
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: News, Pg.24
DATELINE: Bristol, England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Bristol Town Council
According to the Bristol Evening Post, the town council has warned noisy neighbors to keep down the noise or go to court.
England's National Noise Day prompted the serious action by the council, which formed an environmental team to study noise problems in neighborhoods.
According to the Evening Post, the team toured neighborhoods, visited schools, pubs and other sites throughout the city, warning residents to keep noise within reasonable limits.
The article reported that the team toured the city in a bus, and gave the City of Bristol College confiscated stereos, amplifiers and speakers that had been seized by police because of complaints.
The article quoted lecturer and engineering faculty member Terry Goodall as saying that the council wanted a place for the equipment, and that students and faculty were appreciative of the gift.
According to the Evening Post, a spokesperson for the city council said that noise complaints had decreased in number, and credited the environmental team for the drop by more than eight percent over a two-year period.
The spokesperson added that heavy fines may also have contributed to the decrease.
The article reported that 39 percent of noise complaints related to loud music in homes, more than any other type of noise.
After loud music, noisy animals comprised 12 percent of the noise, and general entertainment totaled 11 percent.
Miscellaneous noise complaints were attributed commercial noise, car and burglar alarms, street noise and construction work.
PUBLICATION: The Christian Science Monitor
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: USA; Science; Pg. 3
BYLINE: Alex Salkever
DATELINE: Honolulu
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Sylvia Earle, National Geographic Society oceanographer; Natural Resource Defense Council director Joel Reynolds; National Marine Fisheries Service; Seth Shostak, Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute.
The Christian Science Monitor reports that only 50 years ago, most of the Earth's noises were natural ones rather than technological. Today, however, the opposite may be true. According to the report, astronomers claim that radio waves from communications satellites interfere with their radio telescope observations. The article also reports that aquatic animals such as whales and dolphins are at risk because, according to National Geographic Society oceanographer, Sylvia Earle, our arrogance accompanies our technology; we have not studied the impact or consequence our technology has in the air or oceans.
According to the article, there's a difference between radio and sound waves. Astronomers define noise as local radio interference that prevents the reception of signals from outer space. Marine biologists define noise as sound waves that are so powerful that we can feel them, and they can be physically harmful as well--sound waves that are not part of the same spectrum as radio waves--in other words--they are not found in the electromagnetic spectrum that has always existed.
According to the Monitor, in oceans, the size and sheer weight of the world's merchant fleet has risen dramatically in order to serve the growing global trade. As a consequence, the article says, we have increases in shipping noise, especially in larger ports like New York. The article says that prior to today's modern technology, people drilled for oil by intuition or using maps. Today, however, the Monitor reports that we discharge explosive sound waves to profound depths to locate the Earth's oil deposits. The article reports that submarines uses deep sonar systems to locate other submarines, mimicking the communication wavelengths that whales use, and may even interfere with the communication of whales and other sea creatures--much like horn honkers disrupt people's conversation. Even testing for global warming uses sound technology, the Monitor reports. Why? Because "...sound travels better in water," according to the director of the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) director Joel Reynolds as quoted in the article. The Monitor reports that Reynolds further warns us that since the ocean is not a visual environment, aquatic animals use sound for life-sustaining work such as locating food; noise can interfere with their search. Whale beachings and other marine mammal death rates are due to an increase in noise in the Earth's oceans, according some environmental experts as reported in the Monitor. A striking statistic from the Monitor reveals that According to the NRDC, the ocean's noise level has increased ten times over between 1950 and 1975. According to the report, communication satellites use frequencies so close to the radio telescopes that astronomers use to study galaxies far, far away that astronomers are overwhelmed. Even though the telecommunication industry is aware of the problem and tries to accommodate the study of important astronomical information, the increase in cell phones alone threatens scientists' ability to extract signals correctly. And it doesn't appear as though the prospects for decreasing noise in space are good. More and more people throughout the globe, says the Monitor, are on or near the same wavelengths that are used for studies. And while global corporations may show in interest in decreasing noise, their shareholders may not. Besides, any significant attempts in their so doing could result in astronomical costs. The Monitor goes on to explain that since scientists don't have a definite explanation of how our increased noise impacts life in the ocean, they affirm that we need to conduct more research before we can create and implement policies for mitigating sound. So far, reports the Monitor, the National Marine Fisheries Service has written a proposed policy on noise regulation, but it is only for waters in the United States. Worldwide proposal for expanded noise regulation in US waters, which would be a start but would still fail to address the global conditions. Seth Shostak, a radio astronomer with the Extraterrestrial Intelligence Institute worries that unless we act soon, it could be too late for our skies and our oceans, and we might not be able to sort out the signals. According to the article, he warns us that "At that point, all you can do is move the whole project to the back side of the moon."
PUBLICATION: The Herald Express
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Any, Pg.16
BYLINE: by
DATELINE: Torquay, England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Michael Meacher, UK Environmental Minister
The Herald Express reports that England's National Noise Action Day may only be a good idea.
The article reports that most people in the UK fall victim to a variety of aggravating noise ranging from loud televisions to family fights. Such noise is are more noticeable, the reports says, in summertime when windows are open.
England's parliament passed the Noise Act of 1996, prompted primarily by noisy neighbors. The report says that 94 percent of town officials choose informal ways to quell noise rather than legal ones.
But these informal ways may not be effective in a variety of situations from napping children to night employees who sleep in the daytime while their neighbors mow the lawn.
Everyone makes noise, but when our noise is so loud that it bothers our neighbors, problems arise.
PUBLICATION: M2 Presswire
DATE: July 8, 1999
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Environment Minister Michael Meacher; Noise Network; Westminster City Council, England
An M2 Presswire article reports that England's Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, addressed an audience at a shopping center in Westminster on Noise Action Day, asking people to consider their neighbors and live quieter lives. Meacher told the audience that overexposure to noise has an adverse effect on our lives and our health.
According to the article, Meacher said that Noise Action Day provided the opportunity to focus on the problem of too much noise, and he provided some advice to help people be aware of their own noise and take steps to decrease it.
The article reports that Meacher acknowledged that everyone makes noise, but simply becoming aware of the level of our noise as well as the time of day (or night) that we are noisy is an important first step to ensuring we aren't a nuisance to others.
In the article, he cited a few examples. More parents prepare their children for sleep than the fewer number who play loud music at the same time of night. Meacher stated that turning the volume down when it gets late is a simple and considerate solution.
He added that we should be mindful of those who work at night and sleep during the day before we power up the tools we need for household chores.
According to the article, Mr Meacher referred to a report by the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA), from local environmental health officials regarding noise. He stated that the report provided valuable information regarding noise complaints, legislation and disputes, and the ability to draft future noise policies.
In a note to editors, the article reported the goals of Noise Action Day were to bring the problem of noise to the public's attention, and provide a clear articulation of noise issues. The article says that Noise Action Day is a collaboration with the NSCA, and receives support from the Department of Environment Transport and the Regions (DETR). Authorities, schools, businesses and mediation organizations throughout the UK received information on noise. The packet asks for local support to provide public education about noise.
The article continued stating that Institute of Environmental Health is studying the impact of noise on health other than auditory effects. The article provided a contact name and telephone number for more information.
The NSCA undertook a survey of local authority environmental health officers to investigate the levels and sources of noise complaints, how the law is working and attitudes to noise policy. Further information of the Survey may be obtained from the NSCA in the UK(telephone #0127 332 6313).
Other resources include "Bothered by Noise? There is no need to suffer" found at no cost in local libraries and at the publication office at the DETR in the UK (telephone #0870 122 6236). Readers learn techniques and strategies in handling noise problems, and learn about laws and enforcement against noise. For more information, contact The Noise Network, a organization addressing noise problems (telephone #0181 312 9997 between 9am and 5pm.)
PUBLICATION: Sacramento Bee
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Neighbors; Pg. N1
BYLINE: Chris Derr
DATELINE: Honolulu
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: The Sacramento County Planning Policy Commission; Cordova Community Planning Advisory Council; Cordova Community Planning Advisory Council chair Mike Gallagher
According to the Sacramento Bee, the proposed Sunrise-Douglas development is near Mather Airport, and developers may be required to include an aviation disclosure statement to prospective buyers, informing them to expect aircraft noise since the development is near the airport.
According to the article, the Cordova Community Planning Advisory Council has already asked the county to require the developers to include a disclosure statement for prospective home owners.
In a statement from council chair Mike Gallagher, while the airport is outside a 12,000-acre buffer zone, the council made the recommendation after the closing of the Air Force base.
The reports that Gallagher, in a statement to the Bee, says that the council is not opposed to the housing development, but does support including a disclosure statement to prospective buyers in a development close to an airport.
Even though none of the homes will be closer than two miles from the airport and far outside the buffer zone, some people have still voiced concerns, according to Ann Baker, project manager for the Sacramento County Department of Planning and Community Development.
According to the article, Mather Airport manager Larry Kozub doesn't agree that a disclosure statement will serve much purpose because residents within four miles will experience some noise, but it won't be different from other communities that are farther away.
The article states that an existing disclosure law already requires developers and realtors to inform prospective buyers near airports to expect noise from airplanes.
In the article, Kozub is quoted as asking what the purpose of a another disclosure requirement would be. "...At some point, you have to say 'overflights are overflights, and they affect all areas of the county' and move on."
The Air Force used a 60,000-acre buffer zone, but county officials reduced the area to 12,000 acres last year to accommodate Mather Airport.
PUBLICATION: San Diego Union-Tribune
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Local Pg. B-1:1,7,8; B-6:2,3
BYLINE: James W. Crawley
DATELINE: East County, California
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Santee Mayor Jack Dale; Todd Keegan, the mayor in El Cajon;
According to the San Diego Union-Tribune, marine helicopters may soon hover over East County. Officials from three towns are concerned that the north-south flight corridor above Interstate may be moved. The flight path is above Interstate 15 from the Marine Air Station in Miramar to Escondido.
The article reports that Todd Keegan, the mayor in El Cajon, says a flight path over his town would compromise the quality of life of its residents. Keegan and the mayors of the three other communities sued the marines, who settled out of court in February, 1999. East County residents charged the Marines with violating federal pollution laws.
The Union Tribune said the settlement requires that the Marines come up with alternative routes for a proposed solution. Military officials claim that such a study is in the early stage, and a decision has yet to be made.
The Marines are studying whether a flight path more to the east might reduce noise and still provide them with a practical route to the north, the article says.
Marine Captain Brad Bartelt told the Union-Tribune an open, public process underscored the study. "This process has been very public," he said.
The article says that East County officials refuted that claim, saying the public had no participation in the study, and now they worry their concerns will go unrecognized.
La Mesa mayor Art Madrid called a news conference to make "raise the flag" on local efforts to keep the flight path from overhead. Area mayors fear that the flight path will favor one city over another rather than consider the general area.
The Union-Tribune quotes Santee Mayor Jack Dale: "Mitigation for one city is not flying over another city."
When Madrid heard San Diego Mayor Susan Gold suggest a more easterly path, he voiced his opposition, according to the article.
East County towns are in solidarity against the increased noise, acknowledging all their towns are affected.
Dale stated that the controversy "...isn't simply a Santee or El Cajon issue."
PUBLICATION: The Sentinel
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Council, Pg.9
BYLINE: Rob Cotterill
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Stafford, Stone and Eccleshall borough councils; Karen Gilliat, council senior environmental health officer
According to the Sentinel, borough [town] councils in the UK have received so many noise complaints during the summer, prompting local officials to provide public education programs to help neighbors prevent noise before they make it.
According to the article, the Stafford town council relays all noise complaints to the town's environmental department, which is responsible for settling disputes. The article said that council officials and community volunteers from a local mediation service created a noise awareness exhibition in the town's center.
In a statement to the Sentinel, a Stafford senior environmental health officer said that a significant and continuing rise in noise pollution complaints over the years prompted the council to act. The article said that Stafford received over 1,000 complaints last year.
The exhibition uses special noise monitoring equipment to help people understand how noisy they can be without realizing it, according to the article.
For more information, contact the mediation service at 01 785 619
PUBLICATION: South Wales Evening Post
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Politics: Carmarthenshire, Pg.3
BYLINE: Sid Whitworth
DATELINE: South Wales
According to the South Wales Evening Post, residents in one community in South Wales is taking on its own town council because of one neighbor's hobby-- raising dogs, which are kept caged in his back yard.
The town is Amman Valley, and residents complain that approximately 25 dogs have been caged in a neighbor's home since May of 1998, the article says.
Residents are perplexed by the Carmarthenshire Council's indifference to their complaints, the article continues.
According to one older neighbor, the barking occurs night and day, sometimes for hours at a time. The situation can only get worse, according to the Post, because the council and the RSPCA neither investigated complaints--which range from sleeplessness to health concerns--nor followed up with residents.
The dogs' owner denies charges that the dogs bark at night, except, he says, when drunks, other barking dogs or foxes pass by. He was quoted in the article as saying that he has taken sufficient measures to eliminate the noise.
It was reported that the RSPCA inspected the dogs' habitat and are not taking any action against the owner.
Over 650 complaints about noise pollution come to the Carmarthenshire Council's attention annually. The council's policy is to said it receives about 650 noise pollution complaints every year and must respond within five days, according to its own policy.
According to the Post, solutions such as a noise abatement notice being served on offenders, can come only after the noise problem is investigated and analyzed.
PUBLICATION: Tulsa World
DATE: July 8, 1999
BYLINE: Tim Hoover
DATELINE: Tulsa
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Scott Trizza, Tulsa resident; Jeannie McDaniel, coordinator of the Tulsa Mayor's Office for Neighborhoods; Bill Weinrich, president of the Sunrise Terrace Neighborhood Association; John Haws
According to the Tulsa World, residents near Expo Square are anything but amused with Bell's Amusement Park's proposed expansion and addition of a larger roller coaster.
Scott Trizza is one resident who plans to take Bell's Amusement park to court. He opposes the direction of the proposed expansion, not the expansion itself.
Amusement park officials asked the Tulsa County Public Facilities Authority to approve an expansion of 10 acres west of the fairgrounds, the article reports. Included in the expansion is a new 100-feet high, 3,000-feet long roller coaster.
The article goes on to say that Bell's officials promise the new roller coaster would be as far away as possible from nearby neighborhoods, adding that buildings and landscape would be in the middle between concerned neighborhoods and the park. An expansion, according to the article, isn't the only request amusement park officials made. They also asked for a decrease in rent to offset the cost of building the larger roller coaster. However, the article continued, the increase in revenues from the new roller coaster would result in an increase in funds for the fairgrounds.
The World reports that the amusement park may have to find a new location if the contract is rejected, and residents like Trizza like the idea.
"If they can afford to move, let them," he told the World.
Trizza and other residents near the amusement park won a lawsuit several years ago, challenging the amusement park owner's attempts to expand the evening hours of the Zingo roller coaster, the article reports. Trizza was quoted as saying he didn't object to the current roller coaster, but he does object to a larger one close to his home.
"I like riding Zingo just like anybody else," Trizza said, adding that he just doesn't want a new, larger roller coaster close to neighborhoods.
Going west, Trizza said, further disturbs residential tranquility.
"More and more, you have noise pollution as a concern," says Jeannie McDaniel of the Mayors Office for Neighborhoods.
The article reports that Bill Weinrich is another resident concerned about the noise pollution the park's expansion and larger roller coaster will create. Weinrich, president of the Sunrise Terrace Neighborhood Association, didn't challenge the fairgrounds need to raise money for capital improvements, but the amusement park's proposed expansion could be a detriment to the fairground's.
The article quotes Weinrich as looking at the proposal from a wholistic point of view. "Sometimes to save a person, you have to amputate a leg...if the fairgrounds has to amputate Bell's so that they can move on, that would just have to be so," he stated.
John Haws, who has lived across the street from Expo Square for 58 years, thinks the amusement park doesn't need to get any bigger, and doesn't want the new roller coaster, reports the article.
"I'm certainly not in favor of a new supercoaster," he said.
PUBLICATION: Brisol United Press
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: News, Pg.15
DATELINE: Gloucester, England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Gloucester city council's Environmental Health committee chairman Bernie O'Neill;
An article in the Bristol United Press reports that one noisy rock fan in Gloucester lost his confiscated stereo system when it was crushed by heavy equipment in a ceremony to mark Noise Action Day.
The event had all the pomp and circumstance of a ribbon cutting as the Gloucester's Environmental Health chairman Bernie O'Neill signaled the equipment operator to crush the offender's stereo.
In a statement to the press, Councillor O'Neill said that noise complaints increase in the warmer months because people have their windows open. He added that he took this opportunity [Noise Action Day cermonies] to "...roll out a strong message to all noise pests." He warned other noise offenders to take caution, or their stereos could be next.
According to the article, Neil Tappin of the council's environmental health department said that noise is a significant problem, and that the council receives about 1,000 complaints for every category of noise there is.
"Stereos are the biggest category closely followed by barking dogs," Tappin said, "but we don't deal with them in the same manner."
PUBLICATION: Aberdeen Evening Express
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Environment: Noise, Pg.4
BYLINE: Jenny Clarke
DATELINE: Aberdeen, Scotland
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Aberdeen City Council Aberdeen City Council; Aileen McDiarmid, senior environmental health officer
The Aberdeen Evening News reports that the Aberdeen City Council launched the third National Noise Action Awareness Day to educate residents about noise and its impact on others.
According to the article, the noise may be from loud music or from residents who run noisy household appliances late at night
The article says that complaining about the noise too vociferously could be dangers, and cited a case in an Edinburg court against a man who shot his neighbor for complaining about his loud music.
The article says that while such incidents are rare, noise complaints have become so prevalent that noise has its own awareness day.
Government ministers throughout the UK support National Noise Action Day, which focuses on helping people become cognizant of their own noise.
Despite the annual celebration's educational goals, complaints about noisy neighborhoods are on the rise, and have been for about three years says Aberdeen City Council senior environmental health officer Aileen McDiarmid.
McDiarmid attributes the increase in complaints because people stay up later than they had in the past, and if they listen to loud music, neighbors are going to complain
According to McDiarmid loud music and washing machines are the most common complaints, which can range from sporadic to several nights a week.
The article states that in addition to being irritating, noise can cause health problems due to lack of sleep. Coupled with a stressful job, noise can have an adverse effect on our lives
The Evening News reported that residents filed approximately 550 noise complaints in Aberdeen in 1998, and 330 of them came from residential neighborhoods. The remaining complaints were against pubs and commercial businesses.
According to the article, the city council recommends that people first contact their offending neighbor to settle their complaints. However, if no progress is made or if people don't feel safe enough to complain in person, they should then contact the city council.
McDiarmid visits the complainer's home and installs special recording equipment that can be switched on when the noise begins, according to the News. And if the other environmental health officers agree the noise is significant, they visit the home to listen.
While most people respond to a simple conversation about their noise, other times the council is forced to serve a noise abatement notice which informs them about the type of noise and time of noises shouldn't occur, according to the article. If the written policy is ignored, the noisy offender could face fines up to a several thousand pounds.
If residents are not sure about he curfew in an ordinance or notice, they can generally assume that noises after 11pm are not appropriate.
But the Evening News says that late night complaints are not the only kind he city council receives. Businesses with noisy generators and fans as well as early morning deliveries are also among the offenders.
McDermid is not certain that National Noise Day has had much of a positive impact yet, adding that "...all we can do is try to encourage people to be a bit more considerate."
PUBLICATION: Arizona Republic
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Sun Cities/Surprise Community; Pg. 1
BYLINE: by Elizabeth Greenspan
DATELINE: Arroyo Springs, Arizona
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Arroyo Springs city council; Judy Moskop, Arroyo Springs resident;
The Arizona Republic reports that Arroyo Springs residents will finally get relief from the overwhelming noise from cars and trailer trucks passing by on nearby Loop 101.
The noise is so bad at times, according to Judy Moskop an Arroyo Springs resident whose back yard is only yards from the loop that her family is unable to sit on their patio. "You can see lips moving, but that's it," she said.
According to the Republic, Moskop has complained for two years about the loud traffic noise to Phoenix and Arizona state officials, but no action has ever been taken. But things are changing, the article says.
The Phoenix City Council has designated funds to build sound walls on both sides of the Loop from 51st Avenue to Interstate 17. Such funding is not an everyday occurrence, says Councilman David Seibert, but "...we are doing this because it is a major problem for thousands of people."
According to the article, the project will cost $1.5 million, and is scheduled for construction beginning January 1, 2000. Funding will come from the Arizona Department of transportation.
The report said that Councilman Seibert spent years trying to find a way to fund the project, and finally found money in the city's Capital Improvement Construction.
Noise was not always a problem, the report says. When people began moving into the community, the highway was not yet completed, according to Rocky Racanelli, former Arroyo Springs homeowners association president, and residents did not expect traffic noise to reach the unreasonable levels it has.
Daily irritations are not the only impacts from the noise, says Moskop. The noise even wakes her up before 6 a.m. Other residents claim the noise has reduced their property values, and others are moving out.
The article says that Moskop, who serves on the Deer Valley Planning Committee, found few officials who were willing to help when she first filed her complaint.
Federal Communications Commission policy read that states are obligated to provide sound barriers when traffic noise measures 67 decibels, the Republic reports. Myskop says that the noise around Arroyo Springs measured 54 decibels in 1997, but traffic has increased and when the final sections of the Loop are completed, she expects the level to rise again.
Who is to build the walls--the city, state or the developer? In a quote to the Republic, the Arizona communications relations director Bill Rawson says that the state can pay for the sound barrier only if the homes were built or zoned for by the time the official planning of the highway was complete.
That plan was complete in 1983, says Rawson, and Arroyo springs and other communities around the Loop were not planned for. He says the developer or the city is responsible for constructing the sound walls.
But Councilman Seibert disagrees, and says it's only right that that the state provide the sound barriers because it built the highway.
The reports says that state funding is rare for sound walls, and hundreds of residents called, upset and angry, claiming they had no idea how loud and disturbing the traffic would be. Tom Callow, interim street transportation director, said because of the state's policy, people have limited choices for help once traffic noise reaches such an intolerable level.
But Moskop was persistent, the article says. She said after over 150 phone calls and letters, the city of Phoenix got the message and residents will not get the walls.
Myskop told the Republic that she will advocate for a change in state policy in order that other communities don't have to suffer the same frustrating delays. Myskop says along long as municpalities keep building, residents will face noise problems.
PUBLICATION: The Daily News
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Editorial, Pg. N12
DATELINE: Encino, California
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Bruce M. Herder, Palmdale resident
No more planes
I live near LAX and am completely against any expansion due to the further devaluation of property values because of added noise.
We appreciate your arguments for a further look at using other facilities, such as the former El Toro Marine Corps air base in Orange County.
Adding a fifth runway to the north side of LAX (as proposed by Mayor Riordan) will decimate the quality of life for many residents of Westchester and Playa del Rey. I don't care how quiet they tell us the new engines are - the noise and reverberations at our house now are deafening. - Harvey Geiss
Westchester
Don't want to be L.A.
When I moved my family and myself to Palmdale a dozen years ago, there were two main reasons. The first, because there was affordable housing (something L.A. and the San Fernando Valley sorely lacked) and secondly but most importantly: It was not L.A.
There are those of us who don't want to turn Palmdale Airport into a big international airport, with 747s roaring over our heads on a regular schedule with the noise, traffic, etc., that comes along with it. Maybe we don't want bullet trains racing through here, along with all the noise, traffic, congestion, etc., it would cause.
There are those of us who like the small-town atmosphere (such as it was), with peaceful evenings and living in a place where we can see the stars at night. We like not having smog and being able to drive across town without a signal at every corner. We enjoy not being influenced by the "Big City."
The last thing we need or want is to be like L.A. or the Valley. - Bruce M. Herder
Palmdale
According to the Derby Evening Telegraph, the North East Derbshire District Council called for day of quiet and consideration among neighbors in honor of National Noise Awareness Day.
Council members report that complaints about noise increase in the summer because our windows are open and we're outside more.
The report says that the council heard over 331 noise complaints in 1998, and about a third of them were barking dogs.
The Evening Telegraph reported simple solutions the council suggested that would minimize noise. Not locking dogs up without company or adequate food and water will help quieten dogs.
Also among the council's suggestions were having burglar alarms serviced annually and warning neighbors if you plan to use house or garden appliances that could be noisy.
The council's Health and Housing committee chair George Antcliff encouraged people to take preventative measures against noise complaints: "A quick word over the garden fence will avoid a lot of frayed tempers over the next few months."
PUBLICATION: Registerwriter
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Artwn Lake Country Pg.1
BYLINE: David Devalois
DATELINE: Ankeny, Illinois
According to the Des Moines Register, an indoor shooting range in rural Polk County is in danger of closing because its neighbors and county officials claim the noise is too much. They want it to move to a new location.
The article reports that the owners of the Line of Fire shooting range and their bank are lobbying for the business to stay open.
County commissioners are giving the business time to sound-proof the building and pass the zoning commission's muster before closing the business, the article says. If the sound-proofing meets the zoning commission's standards, the range can stay open.
The Registered quoted Jonathan Wilson, attorney for Line of Fire, as saying he's confident the sound-proofing is adequate, and cites other indoor ranges operated by law enforcement agencies. Wilson also cites the Constitution as the protecting the business from being closed down.
To strengthen the county's side in case of litigation, county officials added a three-year grace period for closing the range, according to Assistant Polk County Attorney David Hibbard. Hibbard added that a five-year grace period would suit him.
Neighbors, however, want more than what the county offers, the Register reported. The article says that they won't be willing to wait for a lengthy court hearing if the range is ordered.
Bob Jerome is one neighbor who lives across the street. According to the Register, he's fed up with the noise and has no tolerance for delays. "You don't know what it's like to hear bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang all day long," said Bob Jerome, who lives across the street from the range," he said. "I don't see why they have to give any time to take care of this problem."
The Line of Fire has had two owners since 1997, says the Register, and closing the business would hurt not only the new owner, Larry Krug, but the Des Moines bank that financed the shooting range.
The president of State Federal Savings and Loan, which owns the Des Moines bank, warned county commissioners that closing the shooting range would put the bank out of business, the article says.
He later retracted his statement, admitting he may have exaggerated the bank's loss, the article reported.
In a more recent statement, Golden spoke of less adverse impact the closing would have on the bank. "It would impact our profitability for a period of time, but we could swallow it."
The bank foreclosed on the Line of Fire and has invested about $800,000 in the business, according to the Register.
Apparently zoning is only one of the business's problems. According to the Register, Line of Fire also has violations against the county's sound ordinance.
Charlie Wong, director of planning, told the Register that officials cited Line of Fire for noise violations in June. Wong said the county defines noise as that which "endangers or injures the welfare, safety or health of a human being or disturbs a reasonable person of normal sensibilities," and adds that a specific decibel does not need to be listed to define noise.
Wong believes the county is more interested in closing the business than fining the shooting range for noise violations.
The shooting range's attorney, disputes the noise violation citation, and says according to "objective standards measured in decibels," the business is not in violation. (P>The register says that no hearing regarding the noise violation has been set.
PUBLICATION: The Deseret News
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Local; Pg. B01
BYLINE: Jose Luis Sanchez Jr.
DATELINE: Farmington, Utah
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Dustin Lance, Framington rsident
According to the Deseret News, residents in Farmington want the town to build noise barriers around Interstate 15, which is soon to be expanded. They were successful in getting over 1,000 signatures to have the issue on the city's Nov. 2 ballot.
Because city council members didn't approve of the state's transportation department's design--16 foot tall concrete walls--residents needed to enusre that some sort of barrier was built, so they put it on the ballot, according to Dustin Lance, a resident who wanted the wall to built.
The article reported that activists gathered more than 30 percent more than they needed to put the question on the ballot.
Farmington's mayor, Greg Bell, told residents the city council does not object to a noise barrier to reduce highway noise. They object to the concrete barriers in other places along the Wasatch Front, the article says
The Utah Department of Transportation se a deadline of November 19 for the city to accept their design and money, according to the News. City council members will vote soon to contract an engineer with noise barrier experience to submit a report on alternative solutions. The City Council will vote today at 8:25 p.m. on a $4,000 contract for an engineer with noise wall expertise to prepare a report on alternatives available to the city in ample time before the state's deadline.
Some residents are suspicious of the city council's motives, and believes the ballot's success was due, in part, to the council's closing of the city pool on Sundays. Resident's don't believe the city takes the voters' interests to heart, the article reports, and is wary of the city's actions.
Lance, a law student who lives with his family only a few feet away from the interstate thinks voters are suspicious of council members' actions. In a statement to the News, he said that when people were approached for signatures, they would ask what the city council thought of the noise barrier. When they heard the council was against it, people would vote for the barrier, according to the article. But for him, it's a question of safety, he told the News. "If my daughter is 50 feet away from me, she can't hear me yell there's a car coming," he said.
The report adds that citizens from other towns are interested in Farmington's decision. Paul Hayward is a resident from Oak Farms, close by, and says that if the city council votes against noise barriers, his town might follow suit.
PUBLICATION: Evening Herald
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Boxfile: 24 Hours, Pg.21
BYLINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Valerie Weedon, of The Noise Network
Complaints about noise are increasing, says the Evening Herald, and the complaints come from people who live near quarreling neighbors, nightclubs and airports, just to name a few.
Valerie Weedon, an activist for the Noise Network, told the Herald that noise is a health problem, but people aren't taking it seriously enough to find a solution.
That's why the Noise Network created a new website to especially in recognition of National Noise Action Day, according to the Herald. In fact, the report says, he Network had worked with the Conservative party to set up a Noise Forum.
When the Labor party came to power, the number of meetings were cut. Then one meeting was cancelled, and nothing has happened since, she told the Herald.
Wheedon acknowledges that noise won't ever be completely eliminated, bu it can be minimized. All it takes is a little consideration for neighbors, and better wall insulation and improved products, the article reported.
PUBLICATION: Evening Herald
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: World Tonight, Pg. 4
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Valerie Weedon of The Noise Network
Valerie Weedon of The Noise Network, says that noise is both an irritant and a health hazard, and we're not doing enough to mitigate it. <
According to the Herald, the Noise Network worked closely with the Conservative Party when they were in power, but that is not the case now that Labor is in power
In a statement to the press, Wheedon said that the Labor Party cut the meetings down to twice a year, and so far none have taken place.
Weedon admitted that noise can't be eliminated, but added it can be reduced simply by being more thoughtful of neighbors and askig for improved building materials and supplies.
PUBLICATION: Salt Lake Tribune
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Final; Pg. C2
BYLINE: Brandon Loomis
DATELINE: Salt Lake City, Utah
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: petitioner Dustin Lance;
The Salt Lake Tribune says that residents in Farmington, Utah want the city to build a sound barrier along Interstate 15. They've gathered over 1,000 signatures asking the city to accept state funding for a concrete slab from the Utah Department of Transportation. If the city declines, residents say they have over 25 percent more signatures than they need to get on the ballot at voting time in November.
One resident, according to the article, says people are frustrated with the city's indecision about the noise barrier. "The people are just fed up," he said. "They've lost faith in the city council because they won't guarantee that they're going to do something."
The Tribune reports that the city won't accept the state's offer of $367,000 to build a wall 2,600 long and 16 feet high because the walls are unsightly, and would divide the city's east and west sides.
According to the article, Mayor Greg Bell noted similar walls along the interstate in other towns are regarded as a nuisance. He added that the same people who declared them a nuisance are the ones who asked for the noise reduction initially, although he agreed the council should give the petition more thought.
"We certainly want to take it into account, but the council is very determined not to act politically or under pressure," Bell said.
The article said that council members want to investigate all sides of a sound wall as well as identify alternatives such as landscaping, so the city has hired Horrocks Engineers of American Fork to study the problem and pose solutions. They haven't dismissed the idea of a plain wall, the mayor said.
According to the Tribune, town historians proposed that the city rebuild a rock-and-mud wall from the mid-1800s. The wall once protected the town from Indian attacks.
The article reported that a Harrocks engineer recorded Farmingtown's highway noise at 75 decibels, which is 10 decibels over Federal Highway Amnistration's standards for sound barriers, adding that a standard 16-foot wall would reduce the decibel level by 10. That's enough to disrupt conversation, and he warns that people might expect the barrier to reduce the noise more than 65 decibels.
The article says that Lance, however, doesn't care about aesthetics because he worries about his daughter's safety because she doesn't hear him when he calls her. He says that any solution is better than none.
The Journal reports that the highway will eventually be expanded, and residents not in area of concern helped gather signatures anyway. Even though the state says that not enough people live in their area to justify state expenditures on a noise wall there at this time, and the noise is not excessive, they know they will be facing the same situation sometime in the future.
"But north Farmington will need a wall sooner or later," said north-end resident Paul Hayward. He added that residents don't care about the look of the barrier because they didn't buy their property for the view.
"That's what people on the hill buy for, and it won't affect them," Hayward said.
PUBLICATION: Press Association
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Home News
BYLINE: Amanda Brown
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Valerie Wheedon, Noise Network; Richard Mills, National Society for Clean Air; John Stewart, a spokesman for Clear Skies Against Aircraft Noise
The Press Association reports that noise is a health hazard as well as an irritant, but we're not doing enough to mitigate it.
Valerie Weedon, of The Noise Network, celebrated Noise Action Day by promoting the organization's new website.
The article reported that Wheedon and the Conservative Party worked together when the party was in power. That has changed, she said, since the Labor party has come to power. ""Nothing has happened, it has all fallen flat," she said.
According to the article, Wheedon admitted that noise cannot be eliminated, but we can all do our part to reduce it simply by being more thoughtful of our neighbors. She added that better building products and materials would also help reduce noise. Another organization, the National Society for Clean Air (NSCA), advocates for a stronger national noise policy. Richard Mills, general secretary of NSCA said that having a national strategy to mitigate noise would strengthen current noise policy in the UK.
Mills cited an increase in complaints about loud music from nearby pubs, and added that 94% of local officials will resort to more informal means of settling noise disputes rather than use a national policy.
Neighborhood noise is not the only loud complaint. Aircraft noise has also prompted activists to demand action from the government. John Stewart, a spokesman for Clear Skies Against Aircraft Noise, accused the government of callously ignoring complaints from people living under Heathrow Airport's flight path. "It is like living under a ten-lane freeway, roaring over our heads day and night. The Government's do-nothing attitude is plain crazy," he said.
The article also referred to official ceremonies elsewhere in the UK. At an exhibition by the Noise Network and the Westminster City Council, Environment Minister Michael Meacher spoke to people at the exhibition in a shopping center, asking them to be more thoughtful of their neighbors. He told the audience that noise is unhealthy, and has a negative impact on our lives. "It adds to stress levels, affects hearing and the general quality of our lives. Noise Action Day provides a helpful focus and practical tips to cut down on noise," he said
Meacher suggested simple ways that we could all reduce the noise we make--from turning down the volume on our stereos, especially when parents are putting their children to bed--to being careful about using household appliances and garden tools when our night working neighbors sleep during the day.
The article said that Meacher referred to a local environmental survey publisehd by the National Society for Clean Air. The survey provides important information about noise complaints and noise legislation in the future.
PUBLICATION: Press Association
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Home News
BYLINE: Jackie Brown
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: National Society for Clean Air;
According to the Press Association, politicians are campaigning on Noise Action Day, asking people to be more thoughtful of their neighbors. The article revealed that noise complaints are increasing in number, especially noise from arguing neighbors, airplanes and loud music from nearby clubs. Local authorities, however, show no signs of enforcing a national noise policy.
The article says that local officials have chosen more informal methods to resolve noise complaints rather than implement the Noise Act of 1996. According to the article, however, the National Society for Clean Air(NSCA) wants a National Noise Strategy to back up an existing noise policy in the UK.
The article suggested a few ways to mitigate noise. One suggestion says that rubber "Smart Curtain" might transform irritating sounds into pleasant ones by using electronic components. The "Smart Curtain" was invented by Andreas Raptopoulos. If Raptopoulos can find a financial investor, the "Smart Curtain" could be used in noise concentration centers throughout the country. The "Smart Curtain" could also be a solution to a mandate from the European Union, mitigating noise pollution. The project could be labor intensive because every large city in the country will have to plot its noisiest locales over the next five years on a detailed map.
The article cited research studies as well as official sanctions against noisemakers. For example, in the USA, research has found that pregnant women who were exposed to inordinate levels of noise at work, home or during recreation. A court in Hants, England confiscated one woman's stereo, two televisions, and a video recorder for playing her music too loud. Officials also fined her £1,200 for violating a noise notice. The Bristol City Council sent a woman a warning about her chiming clock. It seems the continual chiming of the clock interfered with her neighbors' sleep.
PUBLICATION: The Providence Journal-Bulletin
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: News, Pg. 1C
BYLINE: Celeste Tarricone
DATELINE: Coventry, Rhode Island
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: landowner Nicholas Cambio; Coventry town council; Town Councilwoman Anna Mae Lapinski; Anthony Triano, Cambio's attorney
The Providence Journal-Bulletin reports that dirt bikers are no longer welcome on private property. About 400 acres of gravel pits near the New London Turnpike and Route 95 never have been a site for recreation, but dirt bikers have used them for some time without being challenged. That's all about to change because of the noise they make.
The article says that landowner Nicholas Cambio, plans to build a business park on the land in the future, and doesn't want any dirt bikes or ATV's on the land at all.
Coventry police, however, are unable to enforce the No Trespassing signs because their vehicles can't drive on the sand piles, according to Journal. That makes the sand pits that much more attractive, and today it's a recreation spot for bikers.
Not to be outfoxed, Coventry police want to buy an ATV and begin enforcing the No Trespassing ordinance, and the riders are protesting.
The Journal reports that Coventry town council members hope the patrolling ATV will send a clear message and riders will not violate the No Trespassing ordinance, reducing noise complaints from neighbors.
Claiming that their bikes and ATV's don't destroy property and aren't so noisy as neighbors claim, riders showed up at a Town Council meeting to protest.
The article says the protesters claim they have no other place to ride their dirt bikes and ATV's, but the police and town council members stood firm.
The article reported that many residents near the gravel pits have complained for several months about the pervasive noise and dust.
According to the Journal, Cambio was so influenced by neighborhood complaints that he donated $2,500 to the town toward the purchase of an ATV, and asked the police to patrol the area more diligently.
The penalties for trespassing range from a written warning on the first offence, to an arrest on a misdemeanor charge (which carries a $1,000 fine) and a year in jail for the second offence.
Protesters said their vehicles were no louder than their neighbors' chainsaws, and riders make certain they avoid houses. They also commented that they hadn't damaged the land because it was already torn up.
Cambio's lawyer, Anthony Traini, said that riding their vehicles around the pits for years worsened the condition of Cambio's land.
The article said Traini told the protesters that his client didn't "...appreciate people trespassing on the property for any reason. It's private property, and they're not supposed to be on it."
Town Councilwoman Anna Mae Lapinski agreed with neighbors' complaints about the noise. "I don't think the people who are riding in the sand banks are fully aware of how loud it is and how far the sound carries. It's unfortunate that [residents] thought that the gravel bank area was free game."
The Journal reports that the owner of a local cycle shop and ATV dealership said that riders should aware of the law regarding the gravel pits and greenway.
Acknowledging that tracking down violaters will be difficult for the police, he suggested that instead of purchasing an ATV, the city instead build a public off-road riding area as a solution to the problem.
PUBLICATION: Times Newspapers Limited
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Home News
BYLINE: Nick Nuttall
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Howard Price, a spokesman for the Institute of Environmental Health Officers; National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection
According to the Times Newspapers, you can get sick from an over exposure to noise. Loud music, neighbors that fight, barking dogs and the do-it-yourselfer who uses a hammer and drill too long are all among the most emphatic noise complaints.
The article goes on to say that neighborhood clubs with loud inebriated customers are also high on the list.
The increase in complaints has prompted politicians in the UK to push for a national strategy to mitigate noise, and in turn, resolve disputes and improve health.
According to the article, this information comes from a collaborative study of 279 environmental health officers in the UK and Northern Ireland, and sponsored by the National Society for Clean Air and Environmental Protection (NSCA). The survey was published for the UK's National Noise Action Day.
An NSCA spokesperson verified that noise has become the most common form of environmental pollution.
The article says that loud music, barking dogs and the incessant power tool are at the top of the survey's list of the most common complaints. However, traffic noise, which is the most common man-made noise in the environment, was low on the list of complaints. Survey spokespeople believe that's because most of us know that traffic is a problem where little can be done, or at least we perceive that little that individuals can do to mitigate it, or that it's the government's responsibility.
The Times says that more than 40 per cent of the towns queried reported noise from clubs were on the rise, and another 44 per cent said complaints from neighbors against amplified music were increasing.
The article said that more and more local town councils are looking to mediation to help resolve conflicts between neighbors. Of the 45 per cent who tried mediation, 52 percent said it was more effective than litigation, and 36 percent reported an improvement in community relations.
A significant majority, 72 percent, of town council members told the Times that the key to noise mitigation is public education, but only about 15 percent of them actually provide any educational programs, more than likely because of budget concerns.
But Howard Price, a spokesman for the Institute of Environmental Health Officers said the survey itself has helped because it shows that noise complaints to town councils have dropped in the past year.
Price added that better sound insulation in new construction also accounted for helping to resolve conflict; and the confiscation of stereo equipment from loud neighbors became with the 1996 Noise Act; and simple public awareness about noise has helped to reduce complaints.
Price also warned that more needed to be done because noise now complaints now outnumber garbage and litter complaints in local towns. And because solutions are often expensive, the article says, it's a drain on already stretched town resources.
While NSCA is delighted that complaints are decreasing, the article says that officials believe it may be because of the way complaints are logged. Previously, individual complaints were recorded, but councils are now lumping similar complaints about one kind of noise into a single complaint.
PUBLICATION: Chicago Tribune
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Mchenry County; Pg. 1; Zone: Mc
BYLINE: by Steve Stanek
DATELINE: McHenry County, Illinois
The Chicago Tribune reports that Mike Lovergine, a McHenry resident, is the first person ever to receive a $35 citation for making too much noise in his hih performance speedboat on Pistakee Bay, north of Johnsburg. The man plans to challenge the ticket in the County Circuit Court.
The article says that the Fox Waterway Management Agency implemented the noise ordinance.
The Tribune reported that Lovergine has been vocal in his opposition to noise ordinance, and organized the Chain o' Lakes Powerboaters Association. The association not only disputes the agency's ability to pass such a noise ordinance, it also challenges the way in which county officials enforced it. The article says that about 50 members have joined the association.
According to the article, the Fox Waterway Management Agency, formed in the 80's, is charged with "improving" the Fox River and Chain o' Lakes. Boat-sticker fees and grant funding support the agency.
It is that reason, the article says, that Lovergine believes the agency should not occupy itself with noise ordinances.
The Tribune reports that Lovergine's boat was going about 35 m.p.h. when three members of the sheriff's Marine Patrol stopped him because the boat's engine was too loud. Lovergine was headed toward a bar that holds boat races during the summer.
The article says that Lovergine is challenging the citation because he was issued a ticket, but the officers had no equipment to measure the decibel of the noise. He gave the analogy of someone being ticketed for a DUI without having a sobriety test of any kind.
The Tribune reprinted the ordinance, which states: "No person on the waterway shall cause or create excessive or unusual noise which results in a breach of the peace."
And it is that vague language that Lovergine is challenging. He says it is too subjective for issuing citations, claiming that no one will be safe from getting a ticket if he pilots a boat, according to the Tribune.
But the Tribune says that officer Dewey Paoletti and other officers had been citing boaters for almost a month, and expected people to have learned about the enforcement by word of mouth.
The article goes on to say that the officers use their own discretion when issuing tickets to issue all the noise citations--vehicle or boats--but acknowledge they do not have a decibel standard to compare to.
Referring to the muffler law for vehicles, Paoletti justified using subjective decisions. "It's the officer's judgment as to whether there is a violation," he told the Tribune. >
PUBLICATION: Associated Press
DATE: July 6, 1999
SECTION: State And Regional
BYLINE: Leslie Miller
DATELINE: Boston
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Janet Miller, Krystina Carver- students at the American School for the Deaf; Peter Scheifele, National Undersea Research Center and American School for the Deaf
According to an Associated Press article, scientists have studed whale feedings in the Massachusetts Bay between Cape Ann and Provincetown, and think that too much human noise from fishing vessels, whale watch cruises and leisure boats may have a negative impact on their health. Now students will begin a five-day study of the impact of noise on whales that feed along Stellwagen Bank one of the nation's 12 aquatic sanctuaries.
Students who attend the American School for the Deaf, equipped with scientific measurements, will participate in a five-day study to research the impact of noise on whales. The article says the students plan to go to the water's depth for their work.
Peter Scheifele is a National Undersea Research Center researchers and teaches marine science at the school, and says we are unaware of the impact our noise has on aquatic life such as whales, who need sound in order to communicate and live.
According to the Associate Press, students Janet Miller and Krystina Carver are participating in the exhibition with Scheifele, and will measure noise pollution under the surface of Stellwagen Bank. This area is a feeding ground for whales in the summer, the article says.
Following the research on Stellwagen Bank, the students will continue the exhibition on a research vessel, using an underwater microphone to capture the sounds of aquatic life, engines and low-flying airplanes, the article says.
According to the article, signals from all these sources are recorded and then divided into waves by a spectrum analyzer and acoustic software. On topside, the students will look for changes in sound patterns and animals to determine whether aquatic animals are reacting to machine noise.
The students' research is included in a five-year study of the the 12 marine sanctuaries in the U.S. This is the first time all 12 sanctuaries will have been studied, and the exhibition, considered to be a resourceful one, is sponsored by the National Geographic Society, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Richard and Rhoda Goldman fund.
Sophisticated submersibles also will be used in Stellwagen Bank to study the behavior of fishes in the deep boulder reefs.
PUBLICATION: Ventura County Star
DATE: July 6, 1999
SECTION: News; Pg. B01
BYLINE: Robert Hough
DATELINE: Ventura, California
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission; resident Alicia Morris
According to the Ventura County Star, some residents who live near Grant Park's Gun Range have filed numerous complaints about the noise from 9mm gunshots. And the sound-reduction measures, an earth berm and metal barriers, are required by the city, but aren't effective.
The article goes on to say that some residents haven't filed complaints because they've gotten used to the noise, and don't notice it after a while. But that hasn't deterred other neighbors from keeping up their complaints.
The Star reports that the Ventura Parks and Recreation Commission decided to investigate and listen to the noise themselves, and now at least one of them agrees that the current sound reduction measures don't work.
According to Star, one resident addressed the City Council, challenging the others who have been able to tune out the sound of gunfire.
"It's one thing for adults to shrug it off, but children shouldn't grow up thinking gunshot sounds are normal," said Alicia Morris.
Other residents point out that the sound of gunfire alone is an instinctive source of fear.
The Start reports that following the tour, Parks and Recreation Commissioner Doug Halter said that many factors affect noise from the gun range. He said that when the group toured the neighborhoods, it was a cloudy day, and the noise was louder than it would have been on a clear day.
Much of the 107-acre park's land is currently not in use, but officials agree that it may be improved in the future, prompting them to question whether the park would be an appropriate location for a gun range, the article reports.
Halter said it was important for the commission to have a long-range vision about the gun range, park and residents. "Long term, we have to think, 'Where is a better location?' so we can lessen the impact on people and better use the park," he said.
The Ventura police practice their shooting at the range, and Dave Pennell, a range safety officer, reminded the commission that recreation is not the only reason the range is used, the article reports.
"Police use often brings more complaints, because officers use loud, powerful guns, and the number of range users is that much higher when several officers are there, said city Parks Supervisor Jerry Revard.
The article says that the range's managers adjusted the opening hours from 9:00 to 9:30 on Tuesday through Saturday, and 10 a.m. on Sunday. The range closes at 4:30 p.m. and is closed Mondays.
PUBLICATION: Air Transport Intelligence
DATE: July 5, 1999
BYLINE: Ian Verchere
DATELINE: London
The Air Transport Intelligence reports that if industry and state funding are available, the Rolls-Royce airplane will be quieter by 10 decibels (dB) by 2010.
According to the article, Dr. Andrew Kempton, Chief of installation technology said aircraft noise has been reduced by 20dB in the past 30 years because of new technology. But he adds that unless continuing research and funding from the aircraft industry, the European Union and national governments we won't realized further noise reduction.
The Air Transport Intelligence reports the technology under consideration at Rolls Royce address three ideas: the swept fan, to improve leading edge airflow around the fan; the negatively scarfed intake; a programme to extend the lower-lip intakes so as to deflect engine noise normally affecting airport communities "into the skies"; and the serrated nozzle, which replaces both the core and by-pass nozzles and so "encourages mixing and significantly reduces jet noise."
According to the article, Kempton told an audience at a recent Royal Aeronautical Society conference that Rolls Royce is a major player in the first phase of the European collaboration into noise research.
The article reports that collaboration includes experts from many fields: airframe, engine and nacelle manufacturers, research establishments and universities throughout Europe with financial support from the European Union. The article goes on to say that the first phase includes five different programs, and funding is needed to begin the second phase, scheduled for next year, where they will demonstrate technology "at full scale."
The article quoted Kempton as saying that research in the short term will reduce aircraft noise by 6dB in 2005, and over the long term, Rolls Royce will assess components such as active control and novel integrated engine/aircraft configurations.
The article goes on to say that Kempton refers to Boeing's blended wing/body study in which significant reductions in drag, and consequently thrust, resulting in reduced noise. Kempton explains that " Noise from intakes is also shielded by the aircraft from the ground and the jet noise is not subject to installation effects due to the interaction of the jet with the wing."
Kempton says concerted action is needed to address the noise issue in view of the robust forecast growth in air traffic, but he adds that manufacturers are only part of the solution. Concerted action as advocated by ICAO at the CAEP 2 (Committee on Environmental Protection) in 1991 also has to be pursued.
He continues: "Action is required on noise reduction at source by further technological improvements leading to stringency increases and the retirement of old aircraft (consistent with economic considerations); on improved operating measures; and on land-use controls and insulation measures around airports."
Industry is not afraid of tough standards, he adds, "but it does require a predictable standards horizon stretching into the future, because of the large investments involved".
He says: "International agreements are required to improve the noise climate around airports and the EU, the USA and ICAO working groups must ensure that CAEP 5 delivers."
PUBLICATION: Air Transport Intelligence
DATE: July 5, 1999
BYLINE: Simon Warburton
DATELINE: Lyon, France
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: French transport minister, Jean-Claude Gayssot; Lyons-Satolas environmental commission
According to the Air Transport Intelligence, Stage 2 aircraft will no longer be able to land at Lyon-Satolas Airport at night in southeastern France. The French government approved new plans submitted by airport officials. Older aircraft such as old generation Boeing 727 may not land between 11:15 pm and 6:15 am.
The article said that "Avant-Projet de Plan Masse" (APPM), which received an affirmation from the French minister of transport, Jean-Claude Gayssot, is a tougher noise procedure than before, and includes the possibility of a third runway. The new ban is immediate, and targets primarily charter airlines because they use the older Boeing 727 airplanes. Also included in the ban is night testing of engines.
The Lyon Chamber of Commerce and local residents have opposed the noisy airplanes at night, and Gayssot responded to their complaints by approving the APBM.
Landings are not alone in the ban, says Gayssot. Take offs must also adhere to the restricted hours, and will be monitored simultaneously with the routing of local flight paths.
According to the article, the new procedure requires freight operators with more than two rotations per night to submit a proposal to an evironmental committee. Any aircraft with landing noise that exceeds the regulations is subject to "unspecified sanctions."
The article goes on to say that a "Good Conduct Code" is under consideration, with input from pilots, air traffic controllers, airlines and airport managers. The article says that airport officials will submit the finished document to the Lyons-Satolas environmental commission. Gayssot admits that it won't have legal weight, but that the code will further studies into further noise control.
Lyon Airport is the fifth busiest airport in France, and handles about five million passengers a year.
PUBLICATION: News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
DATE: July 5, 1999
SECTION: Editorial, Pg. A8
DATELINE: Greensboro, North Carolina
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Joe Libreri Greensboro
This letter to the editor about airport noise and statistics appeared in the Greensboro North Carolina News & Record.
I applaud Taft Wireback for his well-researched report, "Jet Noise, "(June 27).
However, one basic issue requires clarification: The FAA measures capacity requirements at an airport as a one-hour peak but measures noise as a one-year average. This is unreasonable.
If 60 cargo planes need to take off within one hour, then both capacity and noise should be measured during that one-hour peak. Single events, not averages, wake up people.
The noise consultant, Andy Harris, stated that FedEx would want to fly its planes away from the hub (and away from residential areas) for greater efficiency. But on some nights wind conditions will force them to fly over residential areas.
Can sleep disturbance on those days be averaged away by lower noise levels on other days?
In a previous environmental impact study, Harris referred to two studies conducted in residents' homes near Denver and Los Angeles airports that found that "long-term noise exposure metrics, such as the Day-Night Average Sound Level ..., show no useful association with sleep disturbance."
Everyone knows that statistics can lie.
Average wind speed for a year may hide a few hurricanes; average rainfall for a year may hide a few floods; average noise level for a year will hide quite a few sleepless nights.
The argument that current night flights do not cause a problem overlooks the fact that the proposed runway would be one mile closer to residential areas. Joe Libreri Greensboro
PUBLICATION: Associated Press
DATE: July 4, 1999
SECTION: Metro Iowa Pg.6
BYLINE: P. Solomon Banda
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: James Morgan, Greene County resident; Caroline and Clarence Bormann from rural Bode
The Associated Press reports that an ostrich farmer in rural Greene County Iowa and a nearby neighbor may end up in court over the noise and odor from the 300-pound birds.
According to the article, Morgan says the effect of the farm is too much. "It's unsightly and malodorous," he said. "Their honking sound sounds like a high-speed drill. When I first heard it I thought someone was building something."
The article says that James Morgan and other neighbors want the law to force the farmer to remove the ostriches from the neighborhood. Last year, the state's Supreme Court said that broad protection of farmers against lawsuits over complaints such as noise and order was unconstitutional.
The article added that the justices ruled that when neighbors are unable to sit outside on their own property, current right-to-farm laws were equivalent to taking one's property without compensation.
According to Neil Harl, an agricultural economist at Iowa State University, this complaint has surfaced before. "We've had it before with blasting powder, production plants and brothels. It's not just a cultural phenomenon but it represents a matter of property rights," he said.
The article explained that right-to-farm laws were written in the 1970s and 1980s as more people moved from the city to rural areas. The laws protect farmers who have either lived in an area for years, and hence grandfathered in, as well as farms are covered by specific land designations.
However, the Press Association article says the Supreme Court decided in favor of Caroline and Clarence Bormann from rural Bode, those laws may change.
But according to Michael May, an attorney for a hog farm near Elmira N.Y., farmers are once again vulnerable to lawsuits, no matter how conscientious they are.
PUBLICATION: Los Angeles Times
DATE: July 4, 1999
SECTION: Metro; Part B; Page 14; Zones Desk
The Los Angeles Times reports that southern Californians complain more about airport noise than aircraft emergencies. The article emphasizes, however, the most important issue is safety, citing four emergency landings on San Fernando Valley streets within a few week And in the middle of the discussion is the Burbank-Glendale-Pasedena airport expansion, vigorously opposed by the city of Burbank.
The Times says that the airport is badly in need of a new terminal because the old one is too crowded, and doesn't meet the needs of travelers. But there's more than a cosmetic need for a new terminal--safety. When the terminal first opened in 1930, smaller planes such as biplanes landed, but not jets. Now it is only 313 feet from the runway center line, and the Federal Aviation Administration recommends runways should be a more than double the distance--at least 750 feet away.
The article says that the Burbank city officials and the Burbank-Glendale-Pasadena Airport Authority have been in dispute over the airport's expansion for years. City officials say that a larger terminal will result in an increase in the number of flights and that means more noise. Now that airport officials offered to reduce the size of the new terminal, people though a resolution was imminent.
The Times reports that Burbank city officials want more time to look over the plans before giving their approval for the proposed cite. But more time is just what the Airport Authority can't give. The Authority has up to 60 days to either pay for the property or forfeit the deal and money that it has already paid, making it vulnerable to more lawsuits. The property is owned by Lockheed Martin.
The article argues that safety is everyone's concern, and advocates that since the proposed site meets FAA's distance requirements, the city should agree to the site and study the plans at the same time.
The article acknowledges that noise is annoying, and urges the city of Burbank to work with the Airport Authority and the airlines to come to an agreement. The article states safety is a primary concern and noise a secondary one.
PUBLICATION: News & Record (Greensboro, NC)
DATE: July 5, 1999
SECTION: Editorial, Pg. A8
News & Record (Greensboro, NC) printed the following letter to the editor.
I applaud Taft Wireback for his well-researched report, "Jet Noise, "(June 27).
However, one basic issue requires clarification: The FAA measures capacity requirements at an airport as a one-hour peak but measures noise as a one-year average. This is unreasonable.
If 60 cargo planes need to take off within one hour, then both capacity and noise should be measured during that one-hour peak.
The noise consultant, Andy Harris, stated that FedEx would want to fly its planes away from the hub (and away from residential areas) for greater efficiency. But on some nights wind conditions will force them to fly over residential areas.
Can sleep disturbance on those days be averaged away by lower noise levels on other days?
In a previous environmental impact study, Harris referred to two studies conducted in residents' homes near Denver and Los Angeles airports that found that "long-term noise exposure metrics, such as the Day-Night Average Sound Level ..., show no useful association with sleep disturbance."
Everyone knows that statistics can lie.
Average wind speed for a year may hide a few hurricanes; average rainfall for a year may hide a few floods; average noise level for a year will hide quite a few sleepless nights.
The argument that current night flights do not cause a problem overlooks the fact that the proposed runway would be one mile closer to residential areas. Joe Libreri Greensboro
PUBLICATION: South Bend Tribune
DATE: July 8, 1999
SECTION: Business, Pg. B10
BYLINE: Syril Kline
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Councilwoman Cynthia Bodle; South Bend Humane Society (animal control)
The South Bend Tribune printed letters to its action line regarding barking dogs and other loud noises.
According to the Tribune, one woman complained that her family is unable to participate in simple home life activities such as gardening and outdoor cooking because of a neighbor's aggressive, incessantly barking dog.
The dog's barking has even set neighbor against neighbor because when any neighbor is outside, the dog barks continually, disturbing others; tensions escalate when the offending neighbor is harshly criticized for instigating the dog's barking, according to the report.
The Tribune contacted Cynthia Bodle of the St. Joseph County Board of Commissioners about the disturbance, and was told that county commissioners are considering a proposed noise ordinance, but had not idea whether it would be ratified or rejected.
According to the article, Bodle also spoke with a representative of the Humane Society, the county's animal control, regarding the dog, and, according to Bodle, her office will "take appropriate measures."
The article warns the reader, however, that a barking dog is not simply a matter of noise. It is also a dog's warning, and should be given serious consideration, especially when dog owners do not control the animal.
PUBLICATION: Gloucester Citizen
DATE: July 7, 1999
SECTION: Pg.5
DATELINE: England
ACTIVISTS, INDIVIDUALS, AND GROUPS MENTIONED: Gloucester City Council
The Gloucester Citizen reports that the city council made an example out of one noisy neighbor by smashing his stereo in a ceremony on Noise Action Day.
Ian Harris, owner of the stereo, was also jailed for seven days in 1997 for refusing to turn down the volume of his stereo in the apartment where he lived. His tapes and compact discs are still in storage.
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