Page 13 - the NOISE August 2012

performed this procedure on numerous oc- casions and that it happens more often than most pilots like to admit.
On May 16th, after witnessing a plane dump fuel over their home, Ms. Monday and Mr. Archer used a test kit and submitted blood samples to Metamatrix Clinical Labo- ratory in Georgia. In both Ms. Monday’s and Mr. Archer’s blood, the independent labora- tory found compounds such as Benzene, Sty- rene, Toluene, Xylene, Hexane, Methylpen- tane, and Iso-octane — some with extraor- dinarily high levels. These chemicals can be found in both aviation fuel and jet exhaust. Even median levels of these toxic chemicals have been shown to cause illness and dis- ease. In a 1993 study, the EPA found that 99% of the cancer cases near Midway Airport were caused by aircraft emissions.
Ms. Monday also points to the recent death of her young neighbor, Amanda Coughlin as evidence of the dangers the Sedona Air- port presents to the surrounding commu- nity. Ms. Coughlin had lived at the mouth of Carol Canyon beneath the Sedona Airport mesa since age 8. At 20, she was diagnosed with a rare form of liver cancer. The Red Rock High School graduate died in March as the result of her illness. Ms. Monday believes living in close proximity to the Sedona Air- port and breathing dumped jet fuel and ex- haust caused Ms. Coughlin’s cancer. She says her research has shown the form of cancer Ms. Coughlin contracted is generally found only in elderly men but that she is uncover- ing more cases in young women who reside near airports.
Some have criticized Ms. Monday, accus- ing her of overreacting and exaggerating her health symptoms. Others have argued the airport was present when she and her husband bought their house in 2009 so they should have been aware there would be aircraft flying overhead. But Mrs. Monday stands undaunted by these criticisms. She points to the tests that show jet fuel chemi- cals present in her and her husband’s blood. She says she investigated flight patterns over her home before purchasing and they have changed since she bought her house. And she also points to increased jet traffic over the last few years.
“The character and nature of the airport has changed,” says Ms. Monday. “The airport was expanded against the Sedona Community Master Plan.” This, she says, has resulted in unexpected impacts in the neighborhoods surrounding the airport that include exces- sive noise and pollution that did not exist before the airport was expanded to accom- modate more and larger jets. The airport has grown from less than 10,000 operations (take-offs and landings) in the late 1990s to more than 35,000 in recent years. According to the Sedona Airport Authority, operations peaked at around 50,000 in 2008/2009 but have dropped off since.
The location of the Sedona Airport is an- other part of the problem. In a 1999 article entitled “The Goose and the Golden Egg: The Impacts of Sedona Airport” Dr. David Allen wrote that “Sedona Airport is smack in the middle of Sedona. Every plane that lands or takes off passes over residential and com- mercial property and sometimes schools and other places where large numbers of people gather. National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) statistics show that 49% of general aviation accidents occur during approach and landing and another 27% occur during take-off and climbing.” This makes the area immediately surrounding the airport partic- ularly vulnerable. And that area is no longer primarily uninhabited forest lands. Sedona
has grown up around the mesa that hosts the airport and there are far more buildings and people surrounding it than there were when construction began in 1952.
In fact, the way the airport was conceived and built would be illegal today if not intoler- able. There were no environmental impact studies and no planning meetings to consid- er the future development of the city of Se- dona. There were no processes to attempt to predict the addition of people, homes, com- mercial properties, roads, or other infrastruc- ture in relation to the placement of the air- port. There were just two commercial char- ter pilots, Ray Steele and Joe Moser, who operated their charter service out of Cotton- wood but decided that Tabletop Mountain, the flat-topped mesa located in the middle of what is now West Sedona, would be an ideal spot for take-offs and landings.
Though the land was managed by the United States Forest Service at that time, the pilots employed labor from a local Indi- an boys’ school and other Sedona residents and set about the task of clearing the top of the mesa to create a runway. By the time the USFS knew what was happening, the dam- age was already done. By 1955, a 3,700-foot swath of ground was ready and the first air- plane landing was made. In 1957, the USFS deeded the already cleared 230 acres on the top of Tabletop Mountain under a Part
16 federal land grant to Yavapai County for permanent use as an airport “in perpetuity.” If the land ceases to be used as an airport, ownership will revert back to the federal government.
This is just the goal that Ms. Monday hopes to achieve. “Too many of my neighbors have gotten cancer and are having other health problems including children with lead poi- soning. I’m doing this to save lives.”
The city of St. George, Utah faced a situa- tion quite similar to the one in Sedona a few years ago. They, too, had an airport situated on a mesa in the center of their city. As in Sedona, pilots only half kiddingly referred to the airport as the “aircraft carrier” because of its short and narrow runways and hazardous crosswinds. As the population of the area grew and more homes and infrastructure developed around the mesa, the airport became less accepted by the local commu- nity. The citizens of St. George successfully fought to have their airport closed and relo- cated. The new St. George Municipal Airport opened in 2011 and is located about 8 miles southeast of the city. Residents and visitors alike have embraced the extra travelling in exchange for a safer and more peaceful city.
On June 25, Ms. Monday and Mr. Archer were visited by agents from the Federal Bu- reau of Investigation. The agents said they were asked by the FAA to investigate the claims of fuel dumping. Ms. Monday told the agents the toxic effects of the fuel dumps are so intense that her cat loses bowel and bladder control all around her house when dumping occurs. Mr. Archer referred to the cat as their “canary in a coalmine.” After talk- ing with the agents for nearly two hours, the Sedona couple is convinced the closing of the Sedona Airport is not only possible but imminent.
Coincidentally, on June 28, Edward “Mac” McCall announced his retirement as the Se- dona Airport General Manager, a position he held since 1999.
| Cindy J. Cole has been known to check luggage before boarding. cindycole@live.com
thenoise.us • the NOISE arts & news magazine • AUGUST 2012 • 13