Brief to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on the Issue of Noise from the Saint-Hubert Airport in the City of Longueuil
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CAPA-L The impact of noise from flight school Citizens’ Committee planes on citizen health Brief to the Standing Committee on Transport, Infrastructure and Communities on the issue of noise from the Saint-Hubert Airport in the City of Longueuil by the Le Comité anti-pollution des avions – Longueuil (CAPA-L) Saint-Hubert, Quebec November 8, 2018 www.capa-l.com Table of Contents Description of CAPA-L .................................................................................................................................. 3 A citizens’ committee to mobilize the population of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil .................... 3 A public exasperated with noise pollution .................................................................................................... 4 Interventions by CAPA-L and court action on the Saint-Hubert Airport noise issue - 2011 - 2018 ........................................................................................... 7 CAPA-L’s recommendation ........................................................................................................................... 9 Concluding remarks ................................................................................................................................... 10 Documents available upon request: ➢ Summary of WHO Guidelines for Community Noise ➢ Réflexion de la problématique du bruit a l’aéroport de Saint-Hubert: mémoire de l’Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec [brief on noise issues at the Saint-Hubert Airport by the professional order of speech-language pathologists and audiologists of Quebec], March 2010 ➢ Étude de bruit – Aéroport de St-Hubert, Dessau, 2009 [noise study – St-Hubert Airport] ➢ Rapport d’enquete et d’audiences publiques [report on investigation and public hearings], Steve Flanagan (April 2010) ➢ Analyse des impacts potentiels du bruit aux abords de l’aéroport sur la santé des gens vivant à proximité [analysis of potential impacts of airport noise on the health of nearby residents] – Direction de la santé publique de la Montérégie, 2010 www.capa-l.com 2 Description of CAPA-L CAPA-L, the Comité anti-pollution des Avions - Longueuil (the Longueuil citizens’ committee against pollution by airplanes) is a citizen’s group that was founded as the result of growing community awareness of the impact of the noise and hydrocarbon pollution caused by small, piston-driven airplanes operated by flight schools at the Saint-Hubert airport. It currently has over 300 members. After holding a public meeting on June 16, 2009, CAPA-L adopted a set of representative, democratic operating mechanisms. In October 2010, this committee became incorporated under Part III of the Quebec Companies Act. CAPA- L is now entered in the Quebec register of enterprises. The goals and objectives of CAPA-L are as follows: ➢ to improve the quality of life of citizens of the City of Longueuil and reduce the impact of aircraft pollution on health; ➢ to report any excessive sound nuisances produced by activities of the Saint-Hubert airport; ➢ to bring citizens and other organizations together to discuss and take action on this issue; ➢ to make the public more aware of the many problems caused by noise pollution; ➢ to demand that effective measures be implemented quickly to solve this problem of excessive sound nuisances; ➢ to demand that airport development plans be subjected to public consultations. At this meeting, a committee was formed to lay the groundwork for an action program. Since then, CAPA- L has implemented several methods of informing and mobilizing the public in the urban agglomeration of Longueuil, including a website, e-mails, pamphlets, and media appearances. The CAPA-L board of directors currently has eight directors. Each member has one or more assigned roles, and the many tasks that have to be performed are divided up in accordance with these roles, which include spokesperson, director for policy issues, director for health issues, communications, secretary, volunteer co-ordinator, common-fund manager, web-site administrator, assistant for various assignments, and so on. A citizens’ committee to mobilize the population of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil Since 2009, the committee has set itself the mission of being active in its community. On several occasions, the committee delivered notices to large numbers of homes in the most affected neighbourhoods of Saint- Hubert to encourage the public to attend meetings of the Longueuil city council and the Saint-Hubert borough council. These efforts have been very effective: an impressive number of citizens have attended these meetings, and many of them have vehemently expressed their discontent with the nuisance caused by flight school aircraft and the impact that these aircraft were having on their lives. www.capa-l.com 3 In addition, to raise public awareness of the many problems caused by noise pollution, CAPA-L has set up a website where the public can access studies and other publications on this subject, as well as information about the actions and activities planned by the committee. The website also offers a discussion space where citizens can share their opinions and communicate with committee members by e-mail. CAPA-L also sits on various bodies and works with various government agencies. For example, CAPA-L sat on a joint committee with the City of Longueuil for the purpose of analyzing citizens’ requests and proposing solutions to satisfy these requests as quickly as possible. In addition, the Quebec health ministry’s public health branch for the Montérégie administrative region (Direction de santé publique de la Montérégie), along with the ministry’s Champlain health and social services centre (CSSS Champlain), collaborate with CAPA-L on matters of environmental health and community development. CSSS Champlain has provided a community organizer to support our citizen’s committee, and the Montérégie public health branch made a submission at the public consultations held by the City of Longueuil in March 2010. The Director of Public Health for Montérégie, Dr. Jocelyne Sauvé, disclosed the results of her branch’s analysis of the impact of the noise on the population’s health. The branch’s finding: “[translation] The citizens’ complaints are well founded. The activities of the small airplanes operated by the flight schools represent a moderate to severe noise annoyance.” Lastly, CAPA-L has obtained an expert opinion from the Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec regarding the impact of this noise on the health and quality of life of the local population. In this opinion, the Order urges all of the stakeholders to take action to find lasting, sustainable solutions. To quote the Order’s report: “[translation] Over the past 50 years, many new technologies have emerged that generate noise. But now more than ever, there are things that we can do to give Quebeckers a healthier auditory environment that promotes quality of life and peace and quiet.” A public exasperated with noise pollution The Saint-Hubert airport has been operating since 1927 but, until recently, the citizens nearby had always managed to "live" with its activities. Since October 2006, however, as a result of the expansion projects under way at the airport, the air traffic over nearby residential neighbourhoods has changed dramatically. Since 2006, and especially since 2008, the flight schools have been degrading the quality of life of several hundreds if not several thousands of citizens, because the circuits that these schools use to practise touch- and-go landings and takeoffs run directly over densely populated residential areas not only in the borough of Saint-Hubert but also elsewhere in the Airplanes flying overhead about every three minutes at a level exceeding 70 urban agglomeration of Longueuil. dBA represent a notable nuisance. During the summer when windows are A study commissioned by the City of open, residents located around point C and in the zone located in the axis of Longueuil1 found that the airport averages runway 24G extending to point E would not be able to hear the radio or 800 to 900 aircraft movements per day. television or converse normally in their homes, during busy days on runway 24G. This does not allow for the peaceful enjoyment of their yard during On several occasions, the number has these days. [Translation] Noise Study Aéroport Saint-Hubert 1 City of Longueuil, noise study, Saint-Hubert Airport, November 2009 [Available in French only] www.capa-l.com 4 exceeded 900 to 1,000 movements per day. This represents one aircraft every 45 to 60 seconds from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. during the week, and from 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on weekends. Out of this total, there are 208 to 343 airplanes taking off every day that exceed 70 decibels. That represents one airplane every 3 minutes. Such noise levels deprive people of the full, peaceful enjoyment of their day-to-day activities, such as listening to the radio, watching television, and having normal conversations inside their homes when their windows are open, much less the ability to enjoy the outdoors. As one citizen described the situation in 2010, “I’d love to be able to take a drink out on my patio and chat with my neighbours, but that’s impossible—there’s just too much noise! We can’t hear one another. I hope that some day very soon, I’ll be able to take full advantage of my outdoor environment.” With this background, it’s not surprising that large numbers of citizens leave the city for their summer