From:  Palomar Airport Action Network

PAAN Participants;

 I am forwarding the C4FA Announcement below,  in case you have not received it directly.

In addition to the info provided by C4FA, note the following additional details for PAAN Participants ONLY.

  1. We currently have 12 monitors operational in locations surrounding the airport north and south and also in Escondido, San Marcos and Vista!
  1. On average, approximately 50% of 400 flights per day, as recorded at one or more of our monitors, exceed the 65 decibels acceptable noise threshold. Many locations record sound levels in the 70s and 80s, which are 2 to 4 times the acceptable level.
  1. We are also recording a significant amount of flights which deviate from the recommended flight paths.

Instead they turn north, south, east, west of the airport directly impacting every neighborhood within 4 miles.

  1. Many of the flights also fly lower than an acceptable and safe altitude, which the County represents as calculated  from sea level. We are working on a formula that will show the altitude from the ground elevation at the point of the monitors that pick up the sound. (Reflecting more accurately our lived experience when the flights come over our home)

The result of our efforts exposes that the County approach to noise, belies the fact that this is a NOISE IMAPACTED Airport, which has avoided conducting adequate noise studies (since 2008), so as not to discredit their attempt to expand to commercial aircraft use.

Please speak to your HOA representative if you would like to look at the data for the monitor in your location.

Or feel free to contact me, and either I or someone else can answer any questions you may have.

I also hope to schedule a live/Zoom access meeting as soon as our Dashboard is complete, so as to unveil our detailed data and findings.

Regards……Dom Betro 951-660-5946

Residents Are Fighting Back on Airport Noise!

Good Morning, North County!

 

Exciting News: Residents Are Fighting Back on Airport Noise!

 C4FA is thrilled to inform you of a new community-led Noise Monitoring program, launched by SDAAA (San Diego Airports Action Advocates) and PAAN (Palomar Airport Action Network – the group representing participants of 25+ HOAs and community groups in North County), in partnership with GetNOISY.  

 GetNOISY has successfully installed similar sensor networks near some of the busiest airports in the nation, including JFK, LaGuardia, and O’Hare.

We are very happy about the opportunity to partner with PAAN and to provide them with what we believe is currently the world’s most advanced integrated airplane noise sensing and tracking system” per Dr. Johannes Moenius, CEO of GetNOISY. (https://getnoisy.io).

 Why did this start? Residents were frustrated. Noise complaints to the County were being ignored, lost, or underreported. Neighbors decided to take matters into their own hands, and the initial data is eye-opening.

 Here’s the key issue – There are two ways to measure airport noise:

  • SENEL (Single Event Noise Exposure Level) captures every individual noise event, exactly as you hear it – the method GetNoisy uses.
  • CNEL (Community Noise Equivalent Level) averages noise over time and distance, which minimizes the real impact. Imagine a jet waking you up at 1am, 2am, 3am, and 4am.  CNEL factors in all the quiet time in between and uses a distance formula.  The results conclude there’s no problem. We call it “Magic Math.” The County uses CNEL, which is why they keep saying Palomar Airport doesn’t have a noise issue.

 The early results are striking. In less than 6 months, this community driven program has installed 12 noise monitors around Palomar Airport.  Contrast that with the over 3 years it’s taken the County to install just 2 additional noise monitors, for a total of six monitors.  Airports around the country the size of Palomar typically have 10 -12 noise monitors.

At a recent Carlsbad City Council meeting, one HOA board member reported 105 noise events over his home in a single day exceeding 65 decibels, many in the 75–85 decibel range.  A significant number topped the 85 dB mark.

 To put that in perspective: 65 dB is California’s noise limit. Because decibels are logarithmic, 75 dB is twice as loud, 85 dB is four times as loud as the legal limit.

 This program is just getting started, but we’re already learning a lot. Stay tuned!

Questions or interested in joining?  Please reach out to PAAN at: ([email protected])

 C4FA is continuing its legal battle against the County, AA, and UA to stop the operational expansion at Palomar Airport without permission from the City of Carlsbad. Carlsbad retains LOCAL CONTROL over the USE of Palomar Airport.

 If you believe local control should mean something, if you want to protect residents’ health and safety, please help us continue this fight.

Please Click here to donate. 

Every dollar strengthens our ability to hold the County accountable.

 We are a 100% volunteer organization. No salaries. No overhead. Just neighbors committed to protecting our community. But litigation is expensive and the County is counting on us running out of resources.

This effort depends on community engagement. Please forward this message to friends, neighbors, and anyone who cares about the future of Carlsbad.

 We will not stop. But we cannot do this without you.

 With gratitude and determination,
Your Friends and Neighbors at C4FA