Beverly Airport Noise, Pollution On Danvers Officials' Radar

DANVERS, MA — Danvers residents concerned about increased noise and the potential harmful effects of pollution coming from planes utilizing Beverly Airport will get an audience in front of the Select Board at its next meeting on Tuesday.

Town Manager Steve Bartha said members of the Airport Committee have been asked to come and address the Board following an Airport Committee meeting last month in which local political leaders joined residents in voicing their worries about increasing traffic at the airport and whether those using it are adhering toward an established "good neighbor policy."

"It's pretty disruptive to the neighborhoods around there," State Sen. Joan Lovely (D-Salem) told Patch. "But especially so to the Danvers neighbors because of the position of the runway."

At issue appears to be increased use of the runways from area flight schools that Lovely said saw a spike in interest during the COVID-19 shutdowns.

"People want to get their pilot's license because of the pandemic and most of the noise is from these touch-and-goes," said Lovely of the maneuver in which a student pilot practices for a license through a series of landings, accelerations and takeoffs.

The maneuver is often repeated several times in a row during training.

Lovely said she is sympathetic to the neighbors' worries and has been trying to work with the flight schools and airport to make sure the "good neighbor policy" is followed.

However, oversight of airport operations rests largely beyond the scope of the Danvers and Beverly municipal governments and with the Federal Aviation Administration, which makes determinations about the capacity of airports to handle the air traffic.

Lovely said local officials are working with U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton's office to help make sure the FAA is responsive to any valid concerns regarding both noise and pollution.

"Another issue is that there is leaded gasoline in these smaller airplanes," Lovely said. "The industry is in the process now of transitioning from leaded fuel to unleaded fuel.

"We plan to continue to work with the airport and the neighbors and will continue to advocate on (residents') behalf," Lovely said.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)