Shoreline resident meets with Sen. Cantwell's staff re airplane noise

By Jean Hilde

My meeting with Senator Maria Cantwell's staffers this past Wednesday regarding the FAA's Next-Gen program and the noise it has created over Shoreline went very well.

They had read the materials I'd sent them before the meeting, actively listened and asked pertinent questions. They brain-stormed with me about what steps might be taken. They also warned that the FAA is notoriously difficult to work with and that anything resembling progress might take a long time.

We agreed that a good first step would be to have noise-monitoring equipment set up in Shoreline.

Currently, the Port of Seattle's northernmost monitoring station is located at the Maple Leaf Reservoir, which is four miles south of Shoreline.

Despite the fact that the FAA identified Shoreline as "central to the area where procedures would be changing north of the airport", the agency has placed no noise equipment here to monitor how Next-Gen's changes are impacting the community.

Sen. Cantwell's staffers will reach out to the Port next week.

A big thank-you to the 50 neighbors who added their names to the list and shared their stories of how they've been affected by Next-Gen. If you'd like to join the list, please send your name and cross streets to jmhilde@earthlink.net.

To give you some background on the FAA's Next-Gen program (and about "Greener Skies", Seatac Airport's version of Next-Gen) I've put together some information which you can read here

See previous story: Shoreline resident takes on airplane noise