Page 12 - the NOISE August 2012

In December 2011, I wrote an article about the Sedona Air- port and the noise it creates in our community. It seems that there are very few places left in Sedona where a hiker, bicyclist, or other forest visitor can find even a square inch of silence.
While this issue is bad enough, some new developments have come to light that at least one Sedona resident hopes could lead to the closing and/or relocation of the airport. In- creased jet traffic has brought about accusations of jet fuel dumping and questions regarding the cumulative health ef- fects of jet pollution around the airport. The safety of the fa- cility is being investigated both locally by residents living near the airport and by federal government agencies.
Ten years or so ago, the Sedona Airport was a small airport used by a handful of local pilots, visitors, and occasional gov- ernment officials. Since 2002, traffic — and particularly jet traffic — has increased at the airport leading not only to in- creased noise issues but also concerns about pollution from jet exhaust and fuel dumping.
So what comes out of an airplane’s exhaust? Aviation fuel is a special type of petroleum-based fuel enhanced to power aircraft. Unlike gas for automobiles, jet fuel is kerosene-based (like diesel fuel) and it contains a complicated chemical con- coction of over 1000 additives. Some of these prevent things like freezing at very low temperatures or explosion at very high temperatures. There are over 70 “proprietary” ingredi- ents that may also be present in jet fuel. Much of the aviation fuel in use today still contains lead.
Most of the chemicals in aviation fuel are Hydrocarbons such as paraffins, olefins, naphthenes, and aromatics. Princi- pal components also include n-Heptane and Iso-octane. Jet engines emit many pollutants into the atmosphere, including carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, soot and water vapor. Many of the chemicals found in jet fuel and jet exhaust have been linked to serious illnesses and disease.
While some may point to our crowded highways as the biggest contributing factor to air pollution, it is interesting to note that a jet on a cross-country trip will emit as much con- tamination into the air as an average SUV produces in a whole month. The concentrations of those emissions are strongest when an aircraft is on or near the ground as in takeoffs, land- ings, and taxiing.
Jet fuel toxicology expert Dr. Mark Witten reported in a study sponsored by the US Air Force Office of Scientific Re- search to examine the effects of jet fuel exposure on the lungs that “there are two thousand different constituents in uncombusted jet fuel, including benzene and naphthalene (the ingredient in moth balls that gives them their smell) that have been linked to cancer. The combustion products of any burning substance, i.e., cigarette smoke, are filled with a huge number of oxygen radicals that are well known to be very harmful to living tissue. For example, it is estimated that one exhaled breath of cigarette smoke contains one million oxygen radicals. I cannot imagine what an idling jet engine would be emitting every second in terms of oxygen radicals; however, my best estimate would be in the hundreds of bil- lions of oxygen radicals.”
Studies have shown that people living near airports experi- ence increased rates of illness and disease including cancers, respiratory diseases, pregnancy complications, and increased infant mortality rates. In his book Airports: Deadly Neighbors, former airline supervisor Charles R. Miller cites a 1997 report from the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health regarding heath impacts in Seattle’s Georgetown area which surrounds the Kings County International Airport (Boeing Field). Mr. Miller writes that “when comparing hospitalization rates for Georgetown to those of King and North King Coun- ties, the following, alarming statistics resulted: a 57% higher asthma rate, a 28% higher pneumonia/influenza rate, a 26% higher respiratory disease rate, an 83% higher pregnancy complication rate, a 50% higher infant mortality rate, and ge- netic diseases are statistically higher. Mortality rates are 48% higher for all causes of death: 57% higher for heart disease, a 36% higher cancer death rate with pneumonia and influenza among the top five leading causes. Average life expectancy 70.4 years (the same as in many developing nations) com- pared to Seattle’s of 76.0 years.”
When Kristin Monday bought her house in the Red Rock Crossing area, she was unaware of the impact that living near the airport would have on her life. Ms. Monday has begun a crusade to close the Sedona Airport claiming she has wit- nessed fuel dumping over her own home and the effects of jet exhaust and fuel dumping have become too costly for her and her husband as well as others in her Red Rock Crossing
by cIndy J. cole Illus. by bIll bohan
neighborhood. Earlier this year, Ms. Monday founded a web- site, CloseTheAirport.com where she has outlined the nega- tive impacts the Sedona Airport has had on her and the sur- rounding community.
Ms. Monday and her husband, Robert Archer say they have experienced liver pain and elevated blood pressure as a re- sult of jet fuel dumping and exhaust over their home. Their house is in the flight path of many of the planes that take off and land in Sedona. Others in their neighborhood have ex- perienced the same symptoms. Ms. Monday and Mr. Archer have complained to former Sedona Airport General Manager Edward “Mac” McCall and to the Federal Aviation Admin- istration on numerous occasions. Their claims and concerns had not been taken seriously until recently.
Fuel dumping is a procedure by which an aircraft ejects fuel, often before landing but sometimes at takeoff, in order to decrease the weight of the aircraft. If a plane attempts to land too heavy, the landing can be excessively hard and could damage the aircraft on impact. General aviation poli- cies advocate the use of fuel dumping only in emergency situations. For example, if a plane needs to land sooner than its original flight plan called for because of a medical or me- chanical emergency the pilot may need to dump fuel in order to land the aircraft safely. Theoretically, fuel dumping is an infrequent procedure used only to allay a much more trau- matic event. And it should take place at higher altitudes to facilitate the evaporation of the fuel before it hits the ground. But many people claim the practice is used more regularly than the aviation industry lets on, particularly around smaller airports that receive a lot of traffic from other airports short distances away.
After seeing an article about her accusations against the Sedona Airport, Ms. Monday says she was contacted by a pi- lot who asked to meet with her but wished to remain anony- mous. During their meeting, this pilot told Ms. Monday that fuel dumping was common practice amongst pilots using the Sedona Airport. Prior to being booked for a flight to Se- dona, regional pilots often take on more fuel than is required for the short jaunt to Red Rock Country in anticipation of hav- ing to fly a longer distance. When they reach Sedona, they are too heavy for landing and must jettison fuel in order to land safely on the airports short runway. He confessed he had
12 • AUGUST 2012 • the NOISE arts & news magazine • thenoise.us