MONTPELIER — Opponents of plans to base F-35 fighter planes at Burlington International Airport in Vermont have filed a lawsuit alleging that the US Air Force violated federal law.
The lawsuit filed Monday asked a federal judge to overturn the Air Force decision to base the planes in South Burlington, arguing that they will be too loud and lower property values around the airport. They also raised the remote possibility that one of the planes could crash.
Opponents worry that loud planes could cause health issues and would make more neighborhoods around the airport ‘‘incompatible with residential use.’’
The lawsuit was announced Wednesday. Air Force and Vermont National Guard officials say they are unable to comment about the lawsuit.
James Dumont, a Bristol-based lawyer who represents the opponents, said the environmental impact statement written as part of the Air Force’s decision making process failed to offer comprehensive information about the effects of the planes.
The lawsuit charges that Air Force officials only examined physical damage that noise might cause to historic buildings, not usage changes or possible demolitions, and did not consult with the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, as required by the National Historical Preservation Act.
Dumont said that the report should also have included an analysis of noise levels and other effects if there were no fighter planes at all. The Air Force is planning to get rid of Burlington’s F-16s regardless of whether new F-35s arrive.
The complaint also states that the Air Force mitigation plan issued in April is being implemented without a full public comment period.
As such, the complaint states that Air Force officials ‘‘failed to conduct the requisite ‘hard look’ required by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969.’’
‘‘They haven’t raised anything new; everything has been already addressed,” said Frank Cioffi, president of Greater Burlington Industrial Corporation, a nonprofit economic development group that supports the arrival of the new planes.
Cioffi said he is confident the lawsuit would not keep the planes from their scheduled arrival of 2020.