MSP aircraft noise increases 30% over last 2 years

Aircraft noise from the Twin Cities' MSP International Airport increased 30% from 2014 to 2016, according to analysis of airport authority data. The hardest hit community is St. Louis Park, where the number of people significantly impacted by aircraft noise increased 177% in that timeframe.

This information comes to light at the Federal Aviation Administration is thought to be preparing its return to MSP, in order to again attempt to deploy its NextGen flight departure technology. Here we provide evidence of how the FAA uses NextGen to  "hide" harmful levels of noise over new populations with the help of bogus standards, unreleased data, and the willful avoidance of "unhelpful" analyses. We believe the FAA will follow the same game plan here in the Twin Cities, and we aim to prevent that. 

In this report we call for a clear, reasonable target for the reduction in aircraft noise based on a relevant benchmark. We call on the airport authority to provide greater transparency on this issue by regularly releasing data that they already produce, but do not disseminate. Finally, we call upon Governor Dayton to step up his game on the issue of environmental protection and noise pollution.

​10 minutes, updated June 13th, 2017