| PEPA - Purchase Environmental Protective Association

Hearing More Aircraft Noise?

Sun, Oct 11, 2020 • Westchester Airport

Hearing More Aircraft Noise?

Dear PEPA Member:

We hope this email finds you and your family in good health. Our community has been through a lot over the last six months, and all of us are looking forward to safely resuming our normal habits and routines. An unexpected consequence of the COVID pandemic was quieter skies above Purchase while many carriers ceased operation. However, recently commercial carriers and private/ general aviation operators have begun to resume and ramp up operations. Many members have contacted us to report they have noticed an increase in bothersome air traffic.

PEPA has continued working with the founder of Air Noise Buttons to make improvements and prepare for the resumption of flights. We are pleased to report:

PEPA has acquired additional buttons for new users or for those who wish to replace buttons that have worn out.
The latest device is now rechargeable and easier to activate.

If you need to replace your button please reach out using the contact information below:

Anne J. Gold, Executive Director
Purchase Environmental Protective Association
3003 Purchase Street – Box 21
Purchase, NY 10577
(914) 960-3088
agold@pepany.com

Also, if you know of a neighbor, or friend who would benefit from the campaign please let us know. Tell them that the devices are meant to make creating an air noise complaint easy and fast so that we can make our voices heard to decision makers. With each air noise complaint device, they will receive a 6-month free subscription with the button that instantly locates the loud flights and automatically registers a complaint.

The latest edition of the County’s Airport Monitor reports that Purchase is registering more complaints & households than the rest of Westchester combined. We need to build on our momentum.

Finally we are sharing an email for the Coalition to prevent Westchester Airport Expansion (“Coalition”). PEPA serves on the Steering Committee of the “Coalition.” It is the largest umbrella group advocating against expansion and for a vibrant but limited and environmentally responsible County airport governed by policies that prioritize public health and safety, the reservoir and environment, and our quality of life in Westchester and the surrounding region.

LETTER FROM THE COALITION TO PREVENT WESTCHESTER AIRPORT EXPANSION

Dear Airport Coalition Supporter,

This is a brief message to let you know that our Coalition's Steering Committee continues to closely monitor and actively participate in several ongoing discussions/developments regarding the Westchester County Airport.

Two issues in particular deserve your attention:

Noise

Westchester Airport management took the opportunity of the drastic reduction of flights at the beginning of the pandemic to close the main runway and repave it. Care was taken to avoid negative impact to the surrounding communities and the main runway has reopened. Coalition leaders have expressed our appreciation to the County for its handling of the work.
Commercial airlines have not returned to the same frequency of daily flights they used to operate prior to the pandemic but private/corporate/chartered planes (‘General Aviation’) are fully operational, at levels that seem to reflect a potential trend in the aviation industry during and post-pandemic: a significant increase of the use of private planes not only for business but for personal/leisure travel.
A trend toward more (and larger) private jets is a real concern at Westchester County Airport, where General Aviation already made up 85% of total operations. Unlike the commercial airlines, there are no restrictions on the number and frequency of these flights beyond the physical capacity of the airport, which has multiple General Aviation facilities outside of the main terminal.
Our Steering Committee is closely monitoring further developments in this area (i.e. the increasing use of General Aviation and the corresponding impact in noise, environment, and quality of life in the region) and will reach out to you again with more details.

Potential Water Contamination

Groundwater testing continues to be a concern, which is shared by the County Executive. Coalition leadership has been briefed regularly since 2019 by Westchester County government on the contamination of the airport groundwater near the Kensico Reservoir/Rye Lake by toxic PFAS chemicals released into the ground at the airport by the Air National Guard through 1983.
So far, no PFAS has been detected in our reservoir. The County government is working diligently to determine the scope of contamination and develop remediation plans in coordination with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the Coalition will continue to push for more progress.
The Coalition is advocating for a County Law ensuring that the use of PFAS chemicals at the airport ends soon after the FAA permits the use of alternatives, which is expected within the year. County Legislator Nancy Barr and others are working to move this forward even as the County deals with priorities like the pandemic.

Please let me know if you would like to further discuss any of the issues outlined above and/or learn about how to get more personally involved with the Coalition by volunteering to work in our social media/website support/public relations, legal and technical research areas.

Best regards,

George Klein, Steering Committee Chairperson
Coalition to Prevent Westchester Airport Expansion

To read more about, or to become a supporter of, the “Coalition” visit the website in Key Links below. Again, thank you for taking interest in PEPA’s Air Noise campaign. Together we are combating aircraft noise and working to keep Purchase the special community we all know that it is.

Sincerely,

Anne Gold, Executive Director
PEPA

KEY LINKS

https://www.coalition-to-prevent-westchester-airport-expansion.org/meet-the-coalition

http://pepapurchaseny.com/

Hearing More Aircraft Noise?

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