TagNoise(310)

A Des Moines resident submitted a formal comment arguing that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement (SAMP EIS) significantly underestimates the health risks of aviation noise by omitting key peer-reviewed studies linking aircraft noise to cardiovascular disease, heart structural changes, and sleep disruption. The commenter contends that the EIS relies on outdated and methodologically flawed research, particularly FICAN studies using extrapolated rather than measured data, while ignoring more recent findings from the WHO, the HYENA Project, and a 2025 cardiac MRI study. The comment calls on the FAA to conduct a proper cumulative health effects analysis and require additional noise mitigation measures beyond the current DNL 65 dB contour threshold.

A Des Moines resident's formal comment argues that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement's noise analysis is legally inadequate because it relies solely on a federal FAA noise threshold rather than Washington State's own multi-factor significance standard. The comment contends that the standard noise metric used (DNL) masks the real impact of roughly 96 additional daily flights projected by 2037, since it averages out individual disturbance events rather than counting them. The commenter calls for supplemental analysis using alternative metrics—such as single-event sound levels and nighttime averages—supported by peer-reviewed health studies linking aircraft noise to sleep disruption and cardiovascular harm.

Des Moines resident Jeffrey Bogen submitted a formal comment arguing that the Seattle-Area Metroplex Environmental Impact Statement's noise analysis is legally inadequate because it relies solely on a federal average-noise metric (DNL) rather than Washington State's broader, multi-factor significance standard. Bogen contends that with roughly 96 additional flights per day projected by 2037, residents will experience more frequent individual noise disruptions — including sleep disturbance and cardiovascular stress — that the DNL metric is mathematically incapable of detecting. He calls on the Port of Seattle to supplement its Final EIS with event-level and nighttime noise metrics supported by peer-reviewed health research, including the FAA's own National Sleep Study.