Everyone should be free from aircraft noise, not just the president
by Daniel Fink, MD, Chair, The Quiet Coalition
Photo credit: Trump White House Archived
The Washington Post and other media outlets reported that President Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago neighbors are furious that airplanes from Palm Beach International Airport are being routed over their homes all the time, not just when the president is in town. They can understand the no-fly zone over Mar-A-Lago when the president is there, but not when he’s in Washington or traveling. There is a permanent no-fly zone over the central portion of Washington, D.C. where the White House, the Capitol and various cabinet department headquarters are located.
Trump sued Palm Beach International Airport in 2011 when a runway expansion was proposed, alongside ceasing noise monitoring. He dropped the lawsuit when the project was dropped. The Palm Beach Post reported that Trump’s attorney said:
“Since the reason Mr. Trump filed this lawsuit in the first place was to protect the citizens of Palm Beach County affected by unreasonable airport traffic and noise, and since it is now apparent that the county has abandoned or put the very things that threatened those citizens on indefinite hold, Mr. Trump has decided to dismiss the case for now.”
Aircraft noise isn’t just a nuisance. It’s a major health problem, causing cardiovascular disease and increased mortality. In a study done in Switzerland, noise from specific nighttime flights was linked to specific heart attacks and death. Even if it doesn’t cause heart attacks in everyone, nighttime noise disrupting sleep is particularly bad for health. The Noise Control Act of 1972 established a national policy to promote an environment free from noise that jeopardizes people’s health and welfare.
As I presented last year at the UC Davis Aviation and Noise Symposium, the Federal Aviation Administration knowingly allows Americans to be exposed to unsafe levels of aircraft noise, exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s calculated safe noise exposure levels. The particulate matter pollution from aircraft exhaust is hazardous too, linked to cancer, dementia and premature birth.
Presidents have different security needs from the public, and aircraft should not fly over Mar-A-Lago when the president is there. When the president is not there, it seems unfair to route flights over the resort’s neighbors, to their detriment. All people deserve cleaner, quieter air not disturbed or polluted by excessive aircraft overflights. To follow President Trump’s own example, perhaps legal action can resolve this problem.