Your editorial board wrote that Milton and Dedham should “wait and listen” regarding aviation noise from the new runway plan (“Too much airplane noise? Towns should wait and listen,” March 23). There already IS an aviation noise problem in Milton; why should citizens wait to say, “Enough,” until after Milton is bombarded with even more concentrated noise?
You write that many neighbors are “angry” — anger is an appropriate response when a bully is picking on you. There is a history of the Federal Aviation Administration implementing these new flight plans and then ignoring the complaints that follow; Milton knows this from experience.
Several communities across the country are in different stages of litigation over new flight plans because the citizens were told one thing by the FAA but experienced something very different. A more interesting editorial would have included information on these cases.
There are physical and mental health consequences from increased air traffic and declines in property values that affect the quality of life of all who reside in these towns. You write, “Predicting aircraft noise is an imprecise science.” I agree. However, this raises the question: Because of this imprecision, how can the FAA be confident that towns won’t notice much of a difference?
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