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

by the

Le Comité anti-pollution des avions – Longueuil (CAPA-L) Saint-Hubert,

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]

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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 vacations, so that they can finally get some rest and enjoy the outdoors peacefully. One thing is certain: when people leave the city, they are no longer spending money at their neighbourhood businesses (grocery stories, pharmacies, convenience stores, etc). And anyway, who would want to go have a nice meal on the patio at one of the neighbourhood restaurants if they are going to have to hear the incessant noise of the flight school airplanes while they are dining? Many residents thus end up wondering if they are going to continue to live in Saint-Hubert at all. The economy of our city is at stake!

Even though a number of citizens have filed complaints since 2009, the attitude of the organization responsible for managing the airport, DASH-L, is to discourage citizens. The public have become completely exasperated and disillusioned. DASH-L’s behaviour has resulted in a climate of community distrust. Even if citizens want to report what they regard as abuse, the manager is not neutral and objective, and the people complaining are given to understand that nothing will change, the airport is there to stay, and their efforts are pointless. This is unacceptable; the process and the accountability must be changed.

According to the complaints that CAPA-L has received, the health-related problems are especially striking. The adverse health effects most often reported are as follows:

➢ difficulty getting enough sleep, even with earplugs; ➢ migraines ➢ becoming aggressive ➢ unable to get along with family members ➢ difficulty concentrating ➢ sore ears ➢ feeling harassed by the constant noise; ➢ feeling a great deal of psychological distress.

Other people in our community are also victims of this noise. As one teacher noted, “The children in our primary and secondary schools have problems in concentrating; the noise even interferes with their ability to speak. This incessant noise is therefore having a direct impact on their success in school." Babies have trouble taking their naps in daycare and at home. Workers and seniors complain that they can’t go to bed until the flight school training activities end at 11:00 p.m. every night of the week.

There are also self-employed workers who work at home—an increasingly common trend these days— and who say they have trouble concentrating. And what about the retirees who have worked their entire lives and now want to have a bit of peace and quiet and enjoy the major investment of their lives—their homes? Retirees are one of the groups who complain a lot about this noise pollution, and they are openly and harshly criticized by the flight school representatives.

www.capa-l.com 5 It should also be mentioned that even though the Saint-Hubert airport does not have international status, it operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There are currently no restrictions or regulations regardless whether the airplanes are large or small or generate more noise. And yet at some airports, such as Montreal-Trudeau, restrictions are in place. Practical training for the flight school students regularly ends at 11:00 p.m., and by 5:00 a.m. or even earlier the next morning, some companies, such as Pascan Aviation, are warming up their engines for departures at 5:30, 6:00, 6:30 a.m. and so on. Thus, the airport’s activities are seriously affecting many citizens.

In 2010, even though public hearings were held about the problem of noise at Saint-Hubert airport, Pascan Aviation doubled its fleet of aircraft. Following this expansion, on December 13, 2010, the Saint-Hubert borough council passed a resolution allowing this company to build a brand-new hangar, despite vigorous protests from the citizens present at the meeting. Many questions were left unanswered that night, and the citizens quickly understood that their elected officials were once again making a decision without considering the impacts that this development would have on their quality of life.

There is no denying that the City of Longueuil failed to follow the recommendations in its own report (the Flanagan report) because, if it had done so, then in 2010 it would have developed a coherent vision of the future of the airport area, as proposed in recommendation 21. Pascan Aviation’s project probably would not have been able to go forward, or at least not before the matter had been studied seriously. The same goes for the Hélicraft project, which citizens have also been working hard to block for the past several months, for the same reasons. We note that the company has not only added to its fleet, but students can fly repeatedly over a residential neighbourhood in the agglomeration of Longueil, to the great detriment of citizens just starting their day. In addition, DASH-L and the City of Longueuil announced in August 2018 with much fanfare that the main runway had been redone and the Boeing 737s had arrived, even though the existing noise issue had not been settled. A CAPA-L representant currently on the noise monitoring committee created as a result of the 2015 decision was not even aware of this.

The World Health Organization (WHO) believes that high decibel levels have adverse effects on physical and mental health: stress, cardiovascular problems, hypertension, sleep disturbances, depression, aggressiveness, and aggravation of mental disorders. One lady told us in 2008, “Don’t even think about getting a good night’s sleep anymore. You have trouble falling asleep because of the aircraft. They wake you up early in the morning. We’re very tired, because we no longer get a chance to recuperate. And on top of that, there’s the general stress caused by the constant noise from the airplanes.”

In the WHO’s opinion, everyone must get involved in the fight against environmental noise. In this regard, the WHO says that if there is a risk that public health will deteriorate, action should be taken to protect citizens, without awaiting the full scientific proof.

A study of the impact of environmental noise is essential in the fight to control it. Such a study should be required before any project whatsoever proceeds. The municipality should have a plan for imposing limitations on environmental noise. Unfortunately, despite the recommendations of the Flanagan report in 2010, DASH-L and the City of Longueuil went ahead with the airport development without any prior noise study. In addition, although it was well aware of public complaints since 2008 about the noise problem at the Saint-Hubert Airport, the City of Longueuil has allowed new neighbourhood development around the airport since 2010, in areas we suspect being in zones NEF 25 and 30.

www.capa-l.com 6 Over the past few years, CAPA-L has been receiving complaints from these new residents, who are now being told by the city that it has no legislative authority over aviation activities. Worse yet, the city recently granted permits allowing for new residential development right at the end of the main runway.

The noise is exasperating not only to the citizens of Saint-Hubert, but also to those of neighbouring boroughs. One resident told us in 2010 that she had “noticed in several communications [from the City of Longueuil], when they talk about aircraft noise, they talk about the noise in the vicinity of the airport. I have been living in Greenfield Park for 10 years, and the aircraft noise here is deplorable, summer and winter alike. Don’t even talk to me about summer, because here, the summers no longer exist. You try to enjoy the summer, and you can’t even hear yourself think.”

According to the brief submitted by the professional order of speech-language pathologists and audiologists of Quebec at the public consultations in March 2010, approximately 15% to 25% of the people who are disturbed by the noise actually file complaints. CAPA-L has received copies of over 500 complaints that citizens have filed with Transport Canada. In addition, a petition has been gathered with over 2,000 citizens’ signatures. CAPA-L believes that nearly 13,000 residents of Longueuil are victims of noise from the flight schools’ small airplanes. If we add the conclusions drawn by the Montérégie public health branch in its brief on the subject, we find that over 17,000 people are victims of a moderate to severe noise annoyance. There is only one logical conclusion: the auditory environment should promote health, not endanger it. According to the brief submitted by the submitted by the professional order of speech- language pathologists and audiologists of Quebec at the public consultations in March 2010, approximately 15 to 25% of the people who are disturbed by the noise actually file complaints. CAPA-L has received copies of over 500 complaints that citizens have filed with Transport Canada. In addition, a petition has gathered over 2 000 citizens’ signatures. CAPA-L believes that nearly 13,000 residents of Longueuil are victims of noise from the flight schools’ small airplanes. If we add the conclusions drawn by the Montérégie public health branch in its brief on the subject, we find that over 17,000 people are victims of a moderate to severe noise annoyance. There is only one logical conclusion: the auditory environment should promote health, not endanger it.

Interventions by CAPA-L and court action on the Saint-Hubert Airport noise issue – 2011-2018

Following the numerous interventions by CAPA-L with municipal, provincial and federal officials, the public hearings held by the City of Longueuil in 2010 at the insistence of citizens, the Montérégie public health branch recommendations and the expert opinion from the Ordre des orthophonistes et audiologistes du Québec, and considering the attitude of the airport management agency DASH-L, the public kept up the pressure and continued to demonstrate their discontent. The next step was to bring the Saint-Hubert Airport noise issue before the courts.

➢ In 2010, under public pressure, the DASH-L board of directors imposed restrictions on touch-and-go landings and takeoffs at night. Unhappy with this decision, the flight schools filed for an injunction. ➢ In its February 2011 decision, the Superior Court of Quebec recognized the authority of DASH-L to establish rules, regulations and guidelines for airport users and dismissed the application for a permanent injunction.

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➢ That same year, the flight schools appealed the Superior Court’s decision and obtained status quo for touch-and-go landings and takeoffs at night until the case could be heard on appeal. ➢ Le CAPA-L increased its interventions during the months following the flight schools’ application for an appeal. It called on the provincial and federal Transport ministers, continued its interventions with officials at Longueuil city council meetings, and contacted the Direction de santé publique de la Montérégie and Health Canada, only to find that they could not obtain real support. ➢ CAPA-L then decided to submit an application to the Fonds d’aide [aux actions collectives] for financial assistance to file a class action suit. ➢ In November 2011, CAPA-L filed a motion for authorization to launch a class action. ➢ In August 2012, CAPA-L appeared at a hearing for authorization of a class action suit in the Superior Court of Quebec. ➢ In November 2012, a hearing was held in the Court of Appeal in the case of the flight schools versus DASH-L concerning the airport’s administrative authority. ➢ In March 2013, the Court of Appeal rendered its decision. The appeal was disallowed. The flight schools wanted to prevent DASH-L from imposing limits on touch-and-go landings and takeoffs, airport hours of operation, touch-and-go landing and takeoff schedules and runway use. ➢ DASH-L took no action from the time of the Court of Appeal decision in March 2013 until settlement of the class action suit in 2015. Despite CAPA-L’s continued interventions with various bodies, the citizens continued to suffer daily from the noise caused by piston aircraft from the flight schools at the Saint-Hubert Airport during both the daytime and at night. ➢ June 2013 marked the beginning of meetings with counsel for the defendants in the class action, namely the City of Longueuil, DASH-L, NAV Canada, Transport Canada and the flight schools. ➢ September 2013 was the start of the amicable dispute resolution meetings. ➢ In July 2015, the parties finally reached an agreement in principle in the class action suit after more than five amicable dispute resolutions meetings between September 2013 and April 2014. ➢ In October 2015, the judgment was confirmed. CAPA-L finally managed to obtain certain concessions such as the silencing of more than ninety percent of the flight school fleet in the class action suit, a summer schedule, a night flight schedule, a noise monitoring committee and so on. ➢ In May 2017, despite the 2015 judgment, the flight schools decided not to respect the section on night flights, on the pretext that they did not have to since their aircraft were not always equipped with noise suppressors. At our insistence, DASH-L issued a NOTAM to observe the schedule as set out in the Superior Court judgment. Shortly after, Transport Canada withdrew the NOTAM. ➢ Following Transport Canada’s withdrawal of the NOTAM, CAPA-L undertook new action with DASH-L, NAV Canada, Transport Canada, the City of Longueuil and their counsel. More than 63 actions were taken by telephone, letter, meetings with city council and so on). CAPA-L also submitted inquiries to Novalex and Juripo regarding its rights.

www.capa-l.com 8 ➢ In January 2018, CAPA-L filed a new application with the Fonds d’aide to obtain funding for contempt proceedings. ➢ In April 2018, CAPA-L filed its application for contempt proceedings with the Superior Court of Quebec and obtained authorization to proceed. ➢ In May 2018, DASH-L decided to suspend noise monitoring committee meetings despite the 2015 judgment, because of the contempt proceedings filed by CAPA-L against the flight schools. ➢ In June 2018, CAPA-L requested that DASH-L resume noise monitoring committee meetings. ➢ In October 2018, DASH-L resumed the noise monitoring committee meetings.

CAPA-L’s recommendations

CAPA-L believes that solutions to reduce the impact of noise in the vicinity of the Saint-Hubert Airport do exist and can be implemented with the help and support of Transport Canada and the will of various stakeholders.

CAPA-L requests that the Government of Canada intervene to prohibit training flights over residential districts. In addition, CAPA-L requests that the federal Department of Transport exercise its full leadership to develop a genuine action plan. This plan must satisfy the expectations of the entire population of Longueuil with regard to improving their quality of life.

The following are CAPA-L’s proposed recommendations to Transport Canada:

➢ Contribute to the implementation of a real noise policy and encourage Health Canada to review its impact standards to improve environmental protection. ➢ Recommend the installation of permanent noise measurement stations to better understand the noise problem. ➢ Collaborate with NAV Canada on air route solutions for better air traffic distribution when several runways are accessible. ➢ Recommend that the various stakeholders limit the number of flight schools in affected areas. ➢ Require that noise suppressors be installed once certain models are approved and available. ➢ Quickly review pilot course outlines to reduce the number of touch-and-go landings and takeoffs and the number of aircraft in the circuits to a minimum. ➢ Completely redesign touch-and-go landing and takeoff circuits to limit the impact of noise on the population and avoid densely populated areas. ➢ Shift the runway threshold whenever possible so that aircraft are higher when they fly over residences. ➢ Recommend airport buffer zones. ➢ Include a noise monitoring improvement program in any new airport investment. ➢ Increase requirements for small airplanes unable to reach the acceptable height threshold. ➢ Restrict large carrier schedules by prohibiting night flights.

In addition, ➢ Transport Canada, NAV Canada and the airport manager must establish sanctions for delinquent users.

www.capa-l.com 9 > Public consultations must be held to discuss the potential impact of airport developments on the population. > Stakeholders must work together to develop a sustainable development plan that is in harmony with the environment. > The municipalities, which have the authority to issue residential development permits, must fully understand their responsibility when it comes to issuing such permits in NEF 25 and 30 zones.

Concluding remarks

The citizens of Saint-Hubert and of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil have always managed to live as good neighbours with the airport. But the development of the flight schools in recent years has caused the public to become exasperated with the situation that it is living with every day.

The airport is a public good that must be developed in harmony with the people who share this space. A consensus seems to be emerging among many of the stakeholders in this community that the noise generated by the flight schools’ small airplanes must be reduced and better regulated. Noise is the second environmental threat after air pollution. Both these threats are being experienced by citizens and must be given serious consideration in a sustainable development plan.

The announcement made with much fanfare that the main runway had been redone last August and large carriers had arrived really concerned citizens, who once again were not consulted by DASH-L and municipal officials. At the same time, city permits for new residential neighbourhood development right at the end of the main runway is, in our view, totally irresponsible.

The citizens of Saint-Hubert and the agglomeration of Longueil, who have been fighting a fierce battle for over ten years, believe it is not normal to have to take such difficult, exhaustive action to regain their quality of life. Ordinary citizens should not be left to bear the full brunt of inaction and poor decisions by the various stakeholders. There are solutions! Joint decisions can be made!

Transport Canada must provide effective leadership to the airport managers, elected municipal officials, and airport tenants to ensure that strategies are put in place that will be a win for everyone.

Together, we can do it!

The citizens of the City of Longueuil and the Comité anti pollution des avions - Longueuil (CAPA-L)

November 8, 2018

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