Jet Noise Spurs Complaint Calls -- Lawsuit Also Filed Against Faa Over New Flight Paths

Tacoma architect Warren Wotton says he may be forced from the neighborhood he's lived in for 11 years because of unwanted noise from jets heading to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.

Back in June, the family moved its bedrooms downstairs to the basement to get away from the roar of the planes.

It hasn't been perfect. Keeping the windows shut means no fresh air; ventilation ducts still let some noise seep in.

``It's numbing. It takes away the amenity of a home I love and makes it no longer a home,'' said Wotton, a north Tacoma resident.

Both he and his wife, Eleanor, a high school teacher, say they would be forced to leave their home at the peak of their careers if an upcoming lawsuit does not force the Federal Aviation Administration to change its controversial flight plan.

Since April - when the FAA decided to change the flight pattern, spilling more airplane noise over populated inland areas rather than concentrated over the waters of Puget Sound - hundreds of irate residents complained.

So far this year, 12,204 calls from Tacoma to Bellevue were recorded on a noise hotline set up by the Port of Seattle to gauge reaction to aircraft operations. Last year, there were 8,890 calls in the same nine-month period.

This time of year, the number of callers in neighborhoods such as West Federal Way and Issaquah has grown because air traffic controllers are sending departing planes into south and southwest winds.

Calls from other areas such as Magnolia and Queen Anne Hill have tapered off as the swath of planes once flying over those neighborhoods has been dispersed over a wider area.

Other aggrieved residents have gone beyond just phone calls and letters.

A federal Appeals Court will hear oral arguments on Jan. 8 in a lawsuit filed against the FAA by a group calling itself the Seattle Community Council Federation.

The federation wants an in-depth review of how the new flight path affects the environment. The FAA has done an in-house study that said there would be no noise effects for areas immediately surrounding the airport.

Plagued by airspace congestion, the FAA switched to the flight pattern to allow more planes to land at the airport.

But the new ``four-post'' flight pattern has also brought noise over northern neighborhoods that had few problems in the past.

Jeanette Williams, a former Seattle City Council member and now co-chairwoman of the federation, said the plan was put into effect quickly with little public input. The federation, still working to raise the $30,000 in expected legal fees, is pushing for an environmental-impact statement from the FAA.

The Seattle community group was the first in the nation to file suit, which has been joined by the cities of Federal Way, Tacoma and the town of Gig Harbor.

In the meantime, complaint calls continue to come in daily - some repeat calls from the same person. For instance, the 254 calls from Mercer Island came from only 62 people, records indicate.

``It doesn't work the way that they expect. The only thing that would help them that could be done is change flight tracks,'' said Wayne Bryant, Port of Seattle noise-abatement officer. ``All we would be doing is shifting that noise from their neighborhood to someone else's neighborhood. That kind of approach we couldn't take.''

The port - operator of the airport - can try things such as a night curfew, replacing noisier aircraft with quieter models, insulating homes and buying out homes to reduce the noise impact.

Residents living in Tacoma's Browns Point area are so irked about the noise they voted last week to join the Seattle Community Council Federation.

``We've got people who are upset to the point of selling their homes,'' resident Lloyd Docter said. ``It just obliterates normal life during that time. Inside the house it's at a level higher than normal conversation and it would wake you up if you're asleep.''

THE NOISE HOTLINE

Under the Federal Aviation Administration's new ``four-post'' flight pattern, about one-third of southbound arrivals are being diverted from the west over a path heading south, roughly over Interstate-5, into Seattle-Tacoma International Airport. In the first nine months of this year 12,204 calls - 3,314 more than last year - have come in to a noise hotline set up by the Port of Seattle to get feedback on plane operations.

During the last three months, these neighborhoods had the highest number of telephone calls to the Noise Hotline.

Neighborhood Zip code Number of calls

Riverton Heights 98168 512

Issaquah / Cougar Mountain 98027 466

Madrona / Leschi 98122 424

Beacon Hill / Mt. Baker / Leschi 98144 416

Madison Park / Montlake 98122 316

West Bellevue / Medina 98004 279

Northgate 98115 258

Mercer Island 98040 254

Des Moines 98198 252

West Federal Way 98023 237