HomeMy WebLinkAbout5-6-2020 Pubic Comment - N. Breeding - Noise and air pollutionFrom:Noreen and Roger Breeding
To:brian.sprenger@bozemanairport.com
Cc:Gallatin County Commissioners; Agenda
Subject:noise and air pollution
Date:Wednesday, May 6, 2020 2:36:07 PM
Brian Sprenger,
I hope that the new airport master plan includes measures to reduce noise pollution locally.
The coronavirus shutdown has brought some welcome peace and quiet to my neighborhoodjust north of Mt. Ellis, about 14 miles east of the airport. When I moved here 16 years ago,
airplane noise was relatively infrequent but no longer. In the days leading up to the Marchcorona virus shutdown, I was awakened every morning by 3 airline flights over the house. At
certain times of day, I saw and heard flights every 5 minutes. Quiet is important to me and wasthe main factor in my decision to live outside of town for the first time of my adult life. The
quiet is disappearing.
The 42 airline flights per day projected for June 2020 average out to one plane every 22
minutes between 6:AM and 10:00 PM. Those flights are only a few of the average daily countof 248 flights per day (FAA) as of January 2019. Helicopters are the worst because they fly
low and slowly and the noise goes on and on.
Living at over 900 feet higher than the airport, I have a good view of the yellow scum
blanketing the valley most days. There is no doubt that 90,508 airplane flights per year contribute
significantly to overall air pollution.
I doubt that you personally can do anything to ease my concerns but I wish that they be
seriously considered in any plans guiding airport operations and expansion. Airport planningalso should coordinate with county and city planning. Citizens must be made aware of the
serious ill effects of air travel on quiet and air pollution. The rapid growth in air travel ismaking Gallatin County less livable and less desirable not more.
Sincerely, Noreen Breeding