The Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA) has a blog where they post frequent updates on all things having to do with Sea-Tac Airport, including noise and other complaints.

It’s a great resource for anyone concerned about increased airport noise or other problems.

The RCAA blog links to raw data (as an .xls Excel doc) provided by the Port of Seattle, and below is a re-post of a recent story the RCAA wrote up about the Port’s airport noise hotline (the number is 206-787-5393 and the website is here).

“As you might expect with a file of essentially raw data, there are a few glitches of little consequence,” warned Chas Talbot, RCAA webmaster. Talbot said the glitches include duplicate names, two different addresses for the same phone number, and so on.

Here’s the RCAA re-post:

For the six months from September 2009 through February 2010, the Sea-Tac noise hotline recorded noise complaints from more than 300 different households, according to a log of complaints released to RCAA by the Airport yesterday. Calls came in from more than 50 different ZIP codes, 25 different cities, & from all four Western Washington area codes.

With multiple calls from the same household NOT included, here is a month-by-month breakdown:

• September 2009 99
• October 2009 64
• November 2009 29
• December 2009 22
• January 2010 51
• February 2010 44

It is striking that noise impacts are felt & reported in places far, far removed from the very small area defined by the 65 DNL maps — Shoreline, Lake Forest Park, Kirkland, & even Sumner, to mention a few.

The number of complaints is noteworthy, also, because nothing ever seems to happen at the Airport as the result of citizens complaining to the hotline’s voice-mail system, so there seems to be little purpose to making the call. Yet the complaints continue.

Also, according to the RCAA, the next Part 150 noise study workshop will be Wednesday, June 9th at 6:30pm:

The next public workshop in Sea-Tac Airport’s Part 150 noise study has been scheduled for 6.30 p.m., Wednesday, 9 June, at Cedarhurst Elementary School in Burien, according to an announcement made at the meeting of the Port Commission on 23 March. An agenda for the workshop has not been released at this time.

Cedarhurst Elementary School is located at 611 So. 132nd, Burien, 98168. It is one of the Highline schools that has been rebuilt to reduce overflight noise in the classrooms, under the terms of the 2002 agreement between the School District, the Port District, & the FAA. (More details about the work at Cedarhurst will be found on the School District’s website at http://www.hsd401.org/ourdistrict/construction/cedarhurst.html).

From the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs, we received this letter (posted also on

Congratulations to those who attended last night’s kick-off workshop for Sea-Tac Airport’s Part 150 study!

Despite a restrictive format, the public delivered a loud & clear message spelling out major issues that concern us all.

After an initial presentation, the attendees (estimated at about 200) crowded around the whiteboards in 15 break-out groups.

We heard over & over that the attendees do not believe that the FAA’s 65 DNL noise assessment has anything to do with noise as it is actually experienced.

We heard over & over that single-event noise –not averages — is what intrudes on people’s lives.

Sharp questions were raised about the five-year planning horizon:  the study needs to look long-term.

And what will the Airport look like, what will it sound like, at its maximum?

At the concluding, wrap-up session, there was widespread spontaneous applause for comments that the region needs two more airports, & for the suggestion that if the present noise cannot be fixed, the airport should be moved.

Less-controversial comments included pleas for more noise insulation, more buy-outs, more sellers’ assistance programs.

[EDITOR'S NOTE: Have something you'd like to say? Then email us your "Letter to the Editor" by clicking here. Be sure to include your real name and a way to contact you, and, pending our review, we'll most likely post it. Otherwise, feel free to leave a Comment below...]

Wonder just how loud airport noise is in your neighborhood and/or other areas around Sea-Tac Airport?

Want to support efforts to monitor airport noise levels and obtain independent measurements?

For the past several months, the Regional Commission on Airport Affairs (RCAA, www.rcaanews.org) has been monitoring and recording noise in the areas adjacent to Sea-Tac Airport. This data, gathered independently of the Port of Seattle’s noise monitoring, may be useful to citizens concerned about airport noise levels, particularly noise increases resulting from the third runway.

On Friday July 17th, RCAA will be holding a community meeting; here are the details:

WHAT: RCAA Community Meeting on Sea-Tac Airport Noise

WHEN: Friday, July 17th, from 7pm to 9pm (drop by at any time, presentation will be at 7:30)

WHERE: North SEA-TAC Park Picnic Shelter, located at 129th and Des Moines Memorial Drive

INFO: Light dessert and beverages will be served.

TOPICS:

• See the noise meter in action
• Learn about noise readings taken in your area in the winter (all three runways in use) and summer (two runways)
• Discuss Port of Seattle noise complaint line caller locations (obtained via Freedom of Information Act)

PRESENTERS:

• Stuart Jenner
• Mike Jacob
• Chas Talbot

RCAA is partly funded by local cities. Donations of $5 – $10 per person would be greatly appreciated to help support specific costs of the noise monitoring, including calibration.

According to the RCAA website:

We pledge our best efforts to compel the Airport to obey the environmental rules that are supposed to govern the operation of SeaTac Airport including the new third-runway. Ordinary operations at the Airport continue to contaminate the streams that flow from its campus through neighboring communities & into Puget Sound, in violation of the permits that supposedly protect us. Safe, clean water is a vital concern to the communities near the Airport.

For more information about the noise monitoring email stuartjenner@comcast.net or call 206-241-0101 (9am to 9pm), or visit their website at www.rcaanews.org.