Report 630311001/2008 R. van Poll | O. Breugelmans | L. Dreijerink Geilenkirchen Air Base Perception Survey Perceptions of residents in the Netherlands RIVM Report 630311001/2008 Geilenkirchen Air Base Perception Survey Perceptions of residents in the Netherlands R. van Poll (Project Manager), RIVM (National Institute for Public Health and the Environment) O. Breugelmans (researcher), RIVM L. Dreijerink (researcher), RIVM Contact: R. van Poll Centre for Environmental Health Research [email protected] This report contains an erratum d.d. 11-12-2008 after the last page This survey was carried out for the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment as part of the Geilenkirchen Air Base Perception Survey RIVM, Postbus 1, 3720 BA Bilthoven, Tel 030- 274 91 11 www.rivm.nl © RIVM 2008 Parts of this publication may be reproduced provided the source is given as ‘Rijksinstituut voor Volksgezondheid en Milieu (RIVM)’ with the title of the publication and the year of publication. 2 RIVM Report 630311001 Abstract Geilenkirchen Air Base Perception Survey Perceptions of residents in the Netherlands About 20% of the residents (an estimated 41,000) of the area of the Netherlands around the Geilenkirchen NATO air base experience serious noise annoyance from military air traffic (AWACS). On top of this, a lot of people are concerned about potential health and safety risks from this traffic. There are major differences in perception in the area, with the highest percentage of annoyed and concerned people in the municipalities of Onderbanken, Brunssum and Schinnen. People also experience serious noise annoyance in municipalities further away from the base, however. The perceived annoyance is not explained entirely by noise levels; non-acoustic variables (e.g. negative expectations regarding the future noise situation and concern) are also a factor. Residents also say they suffer from sleep disturbance, again particularly in the municipalities of Onderbanken, Brunssum and Schinnen. Residential satisfaction is comparable to that in the Dutch population as a whole. The proportion of residents who perceive their health as good (67%) is lower than in the Dutch population (80%). There is a great demand for information, especially on flight schedules and the Dutch government’s position on the air base. 60% of the population are in favour of compensation to offset the disadvantages of the base. These are the main findings of a perception survey of 2,500 residents of the area of the Netherlands around the Geilenkirchen air base. The RIVM sent out 5,000 questionnaires in August and September 2007 asking residents of the municipalities of Onderbanken, Brunssum, Schinnen, Heerlen, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Nuth, Simpelveld and Voerendaal about such things as the annoyance they experienced from noise, odour and vibration from AWACS aircraft, their perceived health, residential satisfaction, concern about health and safety risks from AWACS, and the demand for information on the air base. The main recommendations are to reduce the exposure to noise and improve the relationship between government and residents. This could best be done by stepping up policy on replacing the current AWACS engines and insulating homes; to improve the relationship with residents the government could provide better information, take residents seriously and fulfil its undertakings. Key words: perception survey, military air traffic, annoyance, concern, trust, demand for information, compensation RIVM Report 630311001 3 4 RIVM Report 630311001 Rapport in het kort Belevingsonderzoek vliegbasis Geilenkirchen Ongeveer 20% (naar schatting 41.000) van de inwoners in de Nederlandse regio rond de NAVO- vliegbasis Geilenkirchen ervaart ernstig geluidshinder van militair vliegverkeer (AWACS). Bovendien zijn veel mensen bezorgd over mogelijke gezondheids- en veiligheidsrisico’s van het militaire vliegverkeer. De verschillen in de regio zijn groot, met het grootste aandeel gehinderden en bezorgden in de gemeenten Onderbanken, Brunssum en Schinnen. Echter, ook in de gemeenten die verder van de vliegbasis afliggen blijken mensen ernstige geluidshinder te ervaren. De ervaren hinder wordt (niet uitsluitend) door de geluidsniveaus verklaard maar ook niet-akoestische factoren spelen een rol zoals een negatieve verwachting van de geluidssituatie in de toekomst en bezorgdheid. De inwoners geven ook aan last te hebben van slaapverstoring. Ook hier springen de gemeente Onderbanken, Brunssum en Schinnen in het oog. De woontevredenheid onder de inwoners is vergelijkbaar met die van de Nederlandse bevolking. Het aandeel inwoners met een goede ervaren gezondheid (67%) is lager dan in de totale Nederlandse bevolking (80%). Er is grote behoefte aan informatie, vooral over vliegtijden en standpunten van de Nederlandse overheid met betrekking tot de vliegbasis. Bij 60% van de bevolking bestaat draagvlak voor compensatie van de nadelen van de basis. Dit zijn de belangrijkste resultaten uit een belevingsonderzoek gehouden onder 2500 inwoners in de Nederlandse regio rond de vliegbasis Geilenkirchen. In augustus en september 2007 verstuurde het RIVM 5000 vragenlijsten waarin inwoners van de gemeenten Onderbanken, Brunssum, Schinnen, Heerlen, Kerkrade, Landgraaf, Nuth, Simpelveld en Voerendaal werd gevraagd naar onder andere hun ervaren hinder door geluid, geur en trillingen van de AWACS-vliegtuigen, hun ervaren gezondheid, de woontevredenheid, hun bezorgdheid over gezondheids- en veiligheidsrisico’s door AWACS en hun behoefte aan informatie over de vliegbasis. De belangrijkste aanbevelingen zijn beperking van de blootstelling aan geluid en het verbeteren van de relatie tussen overheid en inwoners. Aangrijpingspunten hiervoor zijn het intensiveren van ingezet beleid ten behoeve van vervanging van de huidige AWACS-motoren en het isoleren van woningen. Voor het verbeteren van de relatie met de inwoners zijn verbeteren van de informatievoorziening, de inwoners serieus nemen en het nakomen van afspraken door de overheid belangrijke aangrijpingspunten. Trefwoorden: belevingsonderzoek, militair vliegverkeer, hinder, bezorgdheid, vertrouwen, informatiebehoefte, compensatie RIVM Report 630311001 5 6 RIVM Report 630311001 Preface This survey was commissioned by the Local Environmental Quality Directorate (LOK) of the Ministry of Housing, Spatial Planning and the Environment (VROM). It was carried out by the Centre for Environmental Health Research (MGO) of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). The report is in response to the following request for information from the Directorate: Provide insight into the perceived health, residential satisfaction and perceived environmental quality of residents around the Geilenkirchen air base. Final responsibility for the compilation of the report rests with Dr Ric van Poll, Oscar Breugelmans and Lieke Dreijerink (all of the MGO). The project team also comprised Jutta Köhler, Wim Swart, Dr Vivianne Visschers and Danny Houthuijs (again, all of the MGO). Information gathering (field work) for the questionnaire survey was carried out by Veldkamp Marktonderzoek B.V., Amsterdam, under the responsibility of Maud Adriaansen and Dieter Verhue. The noise data used in the survey were calculated by the National Aerospace Laboratory (NLR), under the responsibility of Henk Lania. This report is a translation of the RIVM report ‘Belevingsonderzoek vliegbasis Geilenkirchen. Percepties van inwoners van Nederland’ (Report No. 630310001). It has been translated by Taalcentrum-VU, Amsterdam. An advisory committee and a scientific advisory committee, both appointed by the RIVM, were consulted at certain points during the survey. They advised the project team on the design and conduct of the survey and the report. The advisory committee was made up of people who have an understanding of the problems with the air base by virtue of their post, role or background. Its members were: Sandra Akkermans and Ester Wolters, Limburg Environmental Federation; Dick Cremers, ex- alderman of the Municipality of Onderbanken; Sven Evertz and Cindy Gielkens, South Limburg Municipal Health Service; Jac Fijnaut, Stop AWACS association; Hans Hermans, South Limburg doctors’ working group; Huub Kockelkoren, Municipality of Brunssum; Diana Metsemakers, Municipality of Onderbanken; Peter Simons, Province of Limburg and Jelle Zijlstra and Henk Richel, Geilenkirchen air base. The scientific advisory committee comprised Dr Wim Passchier, Professor of Risk Analysis and Dr Ree Meertens, Senior Lecturer, Health Information and Education staff group, University of Maastricht. Many people were involved in the writing of this report, but final responsibility for the content rests with the RIVM. The authors would like to thank all those mentioned above for their efforts and their input to the survey. Special thanks is due to those who participated in the survey, i.e. those who took part in the individual and focus group interviews and all the residents of the area around the air base who took the trouble to fill in the questionnaire. RIVM Report 630311001 7 8 RIVM Report 630311001 Contents Glossary of terms, acronyms and abbreviations 11 Summary 13 1 Introduction 15 1.1 Reason for the survey 15 1.2 Geilenkirchen (Germany) air base: background 15 1.3 Purpose of the survey 17 1.4 Organization of the report 18 2 Summary of perceptions 19 2.1 Interviews 19 2.2 Questionnaire survey 19 2.3 Conclusions and recommendations 26 3 Results of individual and focus group interviews 29 3.1 Findings 29 3.2 Conclusions