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Home My WebLink About1988-04-19-HFA-min MINUTES HANSCOM FIELD ADVISORY COMMISSION APRIL 19 , 1988 Attendance Henry Wilfholm Digital Paul Roberts Concord Robert Domnitz Meriam Hill Assoc -Lexington Joe Hartka Raytheon Vincent Scarano FAA (Airport Division) John McGwern Concord Bob Lombardo Beechcraft Michelle Matteo Bedford Liz Corcoran Lincoln Ed Farnsworth Carlisle Claire Cunningham Lincoln J M Wraga Beechcraft J Hammond Beechcraft Ben Obear AOPA Harold Worthington Lexington Al Schmertzler Lincoln (HPA) Col Charlie Seifert Hanscom AFB Lt Col Malcolm Junkin Hanscom AFB Michael Dye Jet Aviation Liz Banks Lexington Minuteman Jane Farmer LWV Rich Theriault N Lincoln Mary Ellen Eagan Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Bob Miller Harris Miller Miller & Hanson Barbara Patzner MPA Francesca DeVan MPA Joyce Hals MPA Sara Arnold MPA 1 Minutes Corrections to the minutes regarding the AFB hazardous waste cleanup were made by Lt Colonel Malcolm Junkin He said they should say that on Site 1 the debris "will be removed" rather than "was moved" and on Site 4 the landfill "will be closed. . . " rather than "has been closed. " . 2 Report on 1987 Ldn Contours Mary Ellen Eagan and Bob Miller of Harris Miller Miller and Hanson presented the results of their report on new contours which was sent to all HFAC members Eagan discussed the management of the project, Miller discussed the results of the report, describing the changes seen when comparing the Ldn contours of 1987 to 1978 (the base year) Miller explained that the changes in the contours can be related tc an increase in operations by general aviation jets although the noise impact has been partially balanced by noisier jetswhich are being phased out of the fleet Miller stated that continued use of EXP as a screening tool is advisable , but he would recommend coupling it with annual updates of Ldn contours He also advised changes in the EXP program will be made to reflect some improvements in reference SEL values for aircraft groups Richard Theriault observed that the Ldn methodology is an averaging of noise and does not represent what could happen over a shorter time period Miller disagreed that Ldn does not reflect single loud events , and gave an example to show that it does , especially during the nighttime hours Miller discussed the fact that approximately 15% of the single piston aircraft attributed to Hanscom are considered overflights Bob Domnitz expressed concern that if the actual number of flights is less than recorded, there might be an opportunity for greater growth based on the 320, 000 maximum number of operations allowed at Hanscom Miller commented that overflights have always been a part of the FAA counts In response to a question regarding site locations chosen for the noise monitoring equipment, Miller stated that the sites were chosen to reflect noise from the most active runway areas 3 Noise Subcommittee Report - Richard Theriault (see attached report) Michelle Matteo reported on the status of legislation proposed by Senator Carol Amick that was heard by the Transportation Committee Bills referring to taxation and land use were forwarded to other committees for consideration Landing fee bills received unfavorable reports Matteo stressed the need to be kept informed by area legislators regarding future hearings 4 Nominating Committee - Jane Farmer Farmer advised the members that the committee will be meeting shortly and that anyone interested in a slot should contact either Michael Dye, Paul Roberts or herself There was a brief discussion regarding the Hanscom Pilots Association interest in a position 5 Statistics and Planning a) Col Charles Siefert, Hanscom Air Force Base Commander and Lt Col Malcolm Junkin reported on several activities LTC Junkin described a 500 gallon #2 oil spill from an inter-connecting pipe between two above ground tanks The spill entered a storm drain which feeds into the Shawsheen River DEQE, Massport and the Town of Bedford were notified Zecco, an emergency contractor cleaned up the oil b) Col Siefert briefed members on current plans to modernize and expand Hanscom Air Force Base, Lincoln Laboratories and Mitre facilities on existing property Plans call for an expansion for new building adding an estimated total 1 , 000, 000 sq ft to consolidate facilities and functions The Air Force Base is looking at various sites , including one on Massport property The AFB will attend a HATS II meeting on May 5th to discuss the impact on the surrounding communities Col Siefert also talked about the air show scheduled for June 12th and invited the HFAC to attend c) Sara Arnold distributed and discussed the March noise statistics report She noted that when comparing March 88 to March 87, there is an increase in complaints and night operations There has also been an increase in the operations based on the 7 a m to 11 p m tower counts The increase has been most significant in the use of business jets The graph showing fluctuations in EXP both with and without military operations , indicates that military operations had little or no impact during January and February, but an increase in C141 operations resulted in a noticeable impact during March d) Joyce Hale explained that Massachusetts Port Authority has made a change in the 1988 airport improvement program Repair of a concrete ramp has become a high priority and a decision was reaches to postpone the building of a new ramp area north of the Civil Terminal Hals told the members that they had not discussed the situation with the tenants because of the need to move quickly on the project e) Hale reported that Catskill Airways has received a certificate from the Secretary of Environmental Affairs to operate at Hanscom The service is expected to start up sometime in May f) A copy of the preliminary 1987 annual Noise Report was distributed Any revisions or additions will be reflected in the final report to be distributed with the May agenda and will be discussed at the May HFAC meeting g) Hals outlined the events leading up to a problem existing at the former Gillette Company fueling facility Fuel tanks were installed in 1970 and tested periodically. There were no evident problems of leakage until September, 1988, when monitoring wells were installed Contamination was found and DEQE plus Massport were notified Clean Harbors , Inc. (CHI) assessed the spill situation A remedial plan was proposed to DEQE and acceptec pending positive results after a six week evaluation. h) John Wraga, from Beechcraft, described an earth berm planned to control fuel spills at their fueling facility. i) Hals reviewed a plan of action taken on noise abatement. A letter was sent to all companies whose nighttime operations numbered more than five a year requesting them to reduce the nighttime use of the field A letter was also sent to the FAA asking for advice regarding possible changes in the noise rules 6 Other Bob Domnitz reported on Massport's Board Meeting agenda. On April 21, the Board will vote on the award of a contract for concrete repairs to the East ramp area plus several changes pertaining to the Jet Aviation lease He noted that the lease will include a 2 1/2 % commission on certain activities and asked if that was usual for Hanscom tenants Joyce Hals explained that charging a commission on airport activities was normal procedure Report of the Noise Subcommittee for the meeting 3-9-88 The noise subcommittee continues to meet in an effort to examine recent trends to access the potential for adverse noise related impacts These trends are as follows *- Increases in Jet Activity *- Increases in Night Operations( 100% 1986 vs 1987) *- Increases in Noise Complaints Discussions were as follows Noise Monitoring Subsystem Nancy Timmerman of Massport(Logan Noise Office) relayed the following information Hanscom to be piggybacked onto Logan' s system Consultant to be selected soon Site selection to begin on 5/1/88 Monitors to be installed late fall/88 Increase in night operations Final report on 1987 surcharge collections provided -70collected 60% of the surcharged were generated by -40% of the operations Surcharge effectiveness For about 40% of the operators, the surcharge is not sufficient to deter them from frequent surcharge period operations Surcharge period operation of helicopter at Jet Aviation The subcommittee while appreciating that the helicopter operators are sensitive to the towns concerns for noise and safety, is displeased with the additicn of 20+ surcharge period operations(per month) in the face of escalating nighttime activity The Noise subcommittee is not satisfied with the limited options available to discourage such operations from occurring now or in the future The subcommittee will work with Massport to develop more effective mechanisms to deal with such situations Additional progress will be reported as concrete recommendations are made or adopted Respectfully Submitted, 04( Lit.14-4'11PRichard Theriault, Chairperson Noise Subcommittee, HFAC