Milton Asks Elected Officials About Health Impacts Of Air Traffic

MILTON, MA – The Town of Milton is calling on state officials to seek a consensus report on the potential effects of air traffic noise and pollution on human health. In a letter addressed to Sen. Elizabeth Warren, Sen. Ed Markey and Reps. Lynch and Capuano, Town Administrator Michael Dennehy asked for an amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act.

The letter was submitted on behalf of Milton's Board of Selectmen and reiterates a request last year that a committee be formed to investigate the potential health impacts of air traffic. In the letter, Dennehy writes that the FAA implemented technology replacing radar navigation with satellite-based navigation systems, allowing for "concentrated flight paths that vary by less than a few feet vertically and laterally, increased airline operations, decreased separation and lower altitudes."

He added that the new technology was implemented without an investigation into the human capability to withstand "the concentrated and relentless aviation noise and exposure to pollution" and referred to the technology as creating a "public health crisis."

Town officials are seeking an amendment that would require the FAA and/or major airports to fund a National Academy of Medicine consensus report on the physical and mental health effects associated with the results of the new technology.

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