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Inequalities in exposure to noise

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Urban noise pollution is worst in poor and minority neighborhoods and segregated cities
Nation Oct 7, 2017 3:43 PM EDT

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/urban-noise-pollution-worst-poor-minority-neighborhoods-segregated-cities


"Most Americans think of cities as noisy places – but some parts of U.S. cities are much louder than others. Nationwide, neighborhoods with higher poverty rates and proportions of black, Hispanic and Asian residents have higher noise levels than other neighborhoods. In addition, in more racially segregated cities, living conditions are louder for everyone, regardless of their race or ethnicity..... Scientists have documented that environmental hazards, such as air pollution and hazardous waste sites, are not evenly distributed across different populations. Often socially disadvantaged groups such as racial minorities, the poor and those with lower levels of educational attainment experience the highest levels of exposure. These dual stresses can represent a double jeopardy for vulnerable populations."

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Toxic pollutants kill at least ten thousand annually, study says.


BY MASON INMAN, FOR NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC NEWS
PUBLISHED OCTOBER 10, 2010

"There's a new fear of flying: You're more likely to die from exposure to toxic pollutants in airplane exhaust than in a plane crash, a new study suggests."


"In recent years, airplane crashes have killed about a thousand people annually, whereas plane emissions kill about ten thousand people each year, researchers say. Earlier studies had assumed that people were harmed only by the emissions from planes while taking off and landing. The new research is the first to give a comprehensive estimate of the number of premature deaths from all airline emissions. "We found that unregulated emissions from [planes flying] above 3,000 feet [914 meters] were responsible for most of the deaths," said study leader Steven Barrett, an aeronautical engineer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Airplane exhaust, like car exhaust, contains a variety of air pollutants, including sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides."
National Transportation Noise Map
https://maps.bts.dot.gov/arcgis/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=a303ff5924c9474790464cc0e9d5c9fb Road and Aviation Noise in the United States The noise map facilitates the tracking of trends in transportation-related noise, by mode, and collectively for multiple transportation modes. The data allow viewing the national picture of potential exposure to aviation and highway noise. The data also allow viewing of the potential exposure at the state or county level. The National Transportation Noise Map is an addition to the National Transportation Atlas Database (NTAD), a set of nationwide geographic databases of transportation facilities, networks, and associated infrastructure available from the BTS Geospatial Data Catalog. The layers will be updated on an annual basis, and future versions of the National Transportation Noise Map are envisioned to include additional transportation noise sources, such as rail and maritime. The BTS map contains aircraft and road noise inventory data provided as web map services (WMS) for use with Geographic Information Systems (GIS), computer programs that can store, analyze, and present spatial or geographic data.

Comments

Very good article on fighting airport noise.

http://airportnoiselaw.org/organize.html

"Airport noise cannot be stopped, short of closing down an airport. But it can be mitigated. Getting to that point is an extremely complex process that has ground down many citizens who ultimately decided to "get a life" away from endless meetings with airport and FAA officials. Suing the airport for monetary damages may offer sweet revenge to some — and perhaps make noise more expensive to the airport — but it's not likely to make your community more livable.
Seasoned veterans will say that it's impossible under the present regime to even deal directly with noise as a problem because of the elaborate regulations spun by the Federal Aviation Administration. The real problem, they will tell you, is understanding these regulations well enough to be able to match wits with FAA and airport officials. Oh boy! Get a life!

What to do? You alone cannot attack airport noise -- not even with the help of your next-door neighbor. You and your community will get nowhere in mitigating airport noise to a livable level until you organize on a massive scale. If airport noise bothers only a handful of people in your community, forget it — move out. But if the lives of a significant segment of your community are disrupted by aircraft noise, you've got the potential power to do something."

AirportNoiseLaw.org

FIGHTING AIRPORT NOISE
In a conversation with a neighbor, I was asked the following question:

"has there been an uptick in the number of homes in your area that have green slime or green residue on the siding? I just received a report at my HOA that 3/4 of the homes have this problem. I've been here for over 20 yrs and this is the first time the inspections noted such a high incidence. My believe is that it's the residue from the jet fuel. Just my opinion though I have no scientific evidence.”

Look at a Press Release by – Senators Cardin and Van Hollen announcing Support for Legal Action against the FAA on Flight Noise
“As you know, more than two years ago the FAA utilized satellite technology to narrow air traffic into a beeline over residential neighborhoods and schools. Commercial aircraft traveling to and from Reagan National (DCA) and BWI Airports speed overhead at low altitudes every few minutes, shaking the walls of the homes and buildings beneath. Students can’t enjoy recess or focus on work. Residents can no longer experience peace inside their homes, and their property values have already been adversely affected. Many homeowners have observed a residue buildup on their cars, roofs, and windows. Our constituents have frequently expressed concern that neither the cumulative sound nor particulate matter produced by perpetual jet engines was adequately studied for adverse health risks by the FAA before imposing flight corridors over their communities.”

I have noticed a black residue on siding and driveways in my community.

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