ENVIRONMENTAL QUESTIONS RELATED TO THE PROPOSED N. C. OLF
SUBMITTED BY RIVERSEDGE HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION

We believe that constructing an OLF in northeastern North Carolina will severely affect the quality of life and economic well-being of its residents since so much of the area’s income is derived from tourism and from farming. Below are some of the questions we would like for the Navy to answer.

1. What reliable method(s) will you use to detect and identify hydrocarbon components in the air, water and soil at the OLF site?

2. Studies have shown that CO2 emissions from jet aircraft puts people within a 30 mile radius of a landing field or airport at risk for cancer, asthma, liver damage, lung disease, lymphoma, depression, myeloid leukemia and tumors. How will you effectively monitor the effect these emissions will have on the population base, domestic animals and wildlife?

3. What studies have you done to show how petroleum hydrocarbons affect farmland and crop production? Will farmers be compensated by the government for loss of income if crop sales are affected?

4. How will you keep local residents’ well water safe from being polluted by the nitrogen oxide, hydrocarbons, sulfur dioxide, naphthalene, benzene and formaldehyde found in jet emissions? Will this be regularly monitored and reported by an impartial agency?

5. What studies have you done about how hydrocarbons affect asphalt roofing shingles on homes and businesses?

6. How will you prevent hydrocarbon build-up in water table?

7. Since the proposed OLF site in Camden County is a rich peat bog, have you investigated or will you do a study on the potential danger of peat fires and how particles and smoke from a peat fire can irritate the eyes, nose and throat of nearby residents and lodge in their lungs, causing future health problems? What measures will you have in effect to prevent peat fires? If one occurs, what are your plans on extinguishing it in a timely manner since peat burns readily and can smolder beneath the surface for long periods of time? How would this alter the water table and flow?

8. What method will you use to monitor, record and report the toxicity and persistence of volatile and less-volatile organic compounds in the petroleum hydrocarbons emitted by each type and model of aircraft using the OLF?

9. What water quality criterion will you use to determine if there is a build-up of chemicals in ambient waters that would affect a variety of aquatic species subjected to both short- and long-term exposure?

10. Have you identified the potential danger of polluting the ground and stream water with spilled jet fuel and de-icers containing glycol?


11. Research shows that the instances of annoyance, disturbance and complaint associated with a noise exposure to jet aircraft is greatest in rural areas, where residents are accustomed to the peace and quiet of nature. How will an OLF alter residents’ lifestyles? What will the dB DNL be in the summer compared to winter? Will it be greater or be more noticeable because windows are likely to be open and recreational activities will be taking place out of doors?

12. How will you gauge, monitor and report the intensity, frequency content and sound pressure levels of each aircraft’s dB DNL?

13. What actions will you take to mitigate aircraft noise impact on noise sensitive areas?

14. How frequently will jet aircraft fly at night? What percentage of the time will they fly during the day? What is your definition of "night time" hours?

15. What types of aircraft, including the model and series, will be flying and during what times of the day or night? What is dB DNL for each aircraft at different altitudes? What is the range from highest to lowest?

16. How many takeoffs and landings will there be of the new F/A-18 E/F Super Hornet a day? During what hours?

17. What will be each aircraft’s flight path? Power setting? Approach and take-off pattern? Power burner decibels?

18. How many times will each type of aircraft participate in touch-and-go landings within a 24 hour period?

19. How will the flight patterns, paths and noise levels change if the jets are under radar flight as opposed to visual flight rules?

20. What studies have been done as to the cumulative effect of noise caused by these aircraft?

21. When the noise contour zone expands under VFR and IFR, how will that affect people living and working in the area? Has this been considered/studied?

22. On radar approaches, what is the spacing of the aircraft?

23. How will the radar affect birds?

24. What kinds of studies done on the relative noise levels on the different types of aircraft? What is long range planning of the facility regarding the types of aircraft using it? Will the Navy be modeling noise future noise impacts from the proposed F-22 and F-35 aircraft in addition to the F/A-18? Will noise contours be generated for the future generations of fighter aircraft?

25. Will you be doing a 10-year study projecting how the area will be affected by an OLF over the long term? Do you project development encroaching upon the Camden site as it has at Oceana and Fentress?

26. What studies have you done on sleep deprivation and how the jet noise will affect schoolchildren and the work force who will be repeatedly awakened at night by touch-and-go landings?

27. Currituck and Camden county school’s have an excellent performance rating from the state. An extensive 2002 Cornell University study shows that excessive noise from jet aircraft flying overhead impairs children’s reading ability and their long-term memory and has psychological effects. Similar studies have reported how loud aircraft noise affects reading, memory, attention and speech perception in children. Have you done any related studies on the health problems associated with schoolchildren being subjected to jet noise? How will this affect the performance of schoolchildren in the three schools that will be under the proposed flight pattern of the jets?

28. A 2008 study published in the European Heart Journal reports that night-time noise from aircraft increases people’s blood pressure even if it doesn’t wake them. They also have a greater risk of developing high blood pressure. What studies have you done or will you do on the population base that will be affected by the northeastern NC OLF?

29. Sustained sleep curtailment and regular sleep deprivation can result in excessive daytime sleepiness, higher cardiovascular risks, obesity and diabetes in all people; however, women and children are especially susceptible. What are your plans on minimizing the noise level from jet aircraft and the health risks?

30. As a result of jet aircraft flying over Va. Beach school districts, officials have required a higher sound-insulation factor in the affected schools. What will you do to protect the children in Camden and Currituck County schools? Will you retrofit the existing schools to provide a higher insulation factor? How will the school districts be compensated and the children and teachers protected? Will residents/taxpayers be forced to burden these costs?

31. Will you commission an extensive species composition study of the site where the proposed OLF will be built?

32. What studies have you done about how jet noise and sonic booms affect poultry growth and, consequently, farmers’ income?

33. How will the wind vortex from the aircraft affect crops?

34. What studies have you done to document how jet noise and sonic booms affect milk production in cows and increase the heart rates of pigs and sheep?

35. What kinds of research has the Navy done concerning how an OLF will affect the development of organic, boutique, flower and herb farming in the area?

36. Studies show that jet noise and sonic booms result in decreased fertility for a variety of wildlife. What studies have you conducted that outline the effects of jet noise on any of the 85 threatened and endangered wildlife in Northeastern N.C.? How will their ability to reproduce be affected?

37. What about the startle reaction of the 100,000-plus geese and swans that feed in the wheat and corn fields bordering the Atlantic flyway, a bird migration route along the Atlantic coast? Birds that are repeatedly startled into flight become stressed and this uses up energy they need for their journey north or south.

38. Will the aircraft activity cause a shift in the Atlantic flyway?

39. In addition to waterfowl, there are millions of songbirds, seabirds, birds of prey, butterflies, dragonflies and certain species of bats that follow the Atlantic flyway every fall and spring. These all contribute to the well-being of the environment and its inhabitants. Migrating birds use a variety of methods to navigate the flyway, including topographical cues such as coastlines and streams, and astronomical guides such as the stars and the earth’s magnetic field. How will the construction of an OLF in this rural area influence the steering of these migration flocks to their destinations?

40. What precautions will you take to avoid danger and death to them as well as to your jet pilots who may fly into a flock of birds?

41. How will the flight pattern affect each species?

42. What effect will site construction, including the security fencing, at the proposed OLF have on the topography of the land, the water table, habitats, marine life in nearby streams and the travels of the indigenous wildlife? How will its construction affect drainage?

43. Has the Navy done a wetlands delineation of the proposed area and what is the extent of the identified wetlands that will be disturbed? Will there be any mitigation? Will you need to fill wetlands to build the runway? If so, will you create another one elsewhere?

44. How will the jet exhaust change precipitation patterns in the area?

45. If the site is constructed, what safeguards will be in place to immediately identify all non-point sources of pollution before spreads into the ground water?

46. What will be done to prevent the rubber debris and residue from aircraft tires from being storm-water runoff and leaching into the water table and, consequently, residents’ wells?

47. How long will the Navy monitor the physical and biological conditions of the site? Will you conduct studies monthly, seasonally or annually? Over what period of time?

48. Studies have shown that aircraft noise decreases the value of residential property. Recently, the FHA has refused to make mortgage loans in the noise zones adjacent to Oceana. How will this be mitigated?

49. Currently, Northeastern N. C. has an economically vibrant eco-tourism base. People travel here from all over the world to go pleasure boating and fishing in our waters; to kayak and canoe in the sounds, tributaries and intracoastal waterways; to go bird-watching in our nature reserves; and to hike in our wildlife refuges. If jets fly in an expanded radar pattern or regularly fly over areas attracting eco-tourism, our economy will be greatly affected. Businesses catering to this industry will be hurt because eco-tourists and vacationers will go where the environment is quiet and clean.

50. Are you doing individual studies on any species that might be put at risk by an OLF? Wildlife species living in Currituck and Camden counties that have been documented by the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service as threatened, endangered, protected or species of concern are: the American alligator, American eel, bald eagle, black-throated green warbler, red-cockaded woodpecker, shortnose sturgeon, black rail, leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles, piping plover and the West Indian manatee.

51. Are you aware of the study underway on the king rail at Mackey Island Natural Wildlife Refuge, an area that could be put at risk by jet activity? This is one of only two locations where substantial numbers of the king rail are found.

52. How will noise and aircraft traffic affect the purple martin and the bat population? What about the bee and butterfly population?

53. Will you explore the proposed OLF site to make certain there are no small whorled pogonias growing? This is an endangered plant and, therefore, it’s against EPA regulation to disturb their habitat. The only way to know if the plant is present is to wait until it blooms.

54. What is the Flight path that is planned for this facility?

55. What is the altitude that the planes will be flying at the lowest to the highest points of their operation?

56. What are the power settings at different portions of the flight path for each plane to include the afterburner?

57. Will there be radar involved in the training operations? If so how will this affect the decibel ratings in the different outlying areas? Will there be a change to flight pattern if radar is used?

58. What type of planes will be flying at the proposed OLF?

59. What future planning has been made for operations and planes that have not been disclosed to the public at the present time?

60. Knowing that two new planes that are even noisier than the F18 will be released in the near future, what studies have been done to indicate the noise decibels in the areas located near the airstrip for these new planes?

61. How many operations will take place each day and what is the length of each operation?

62. How many operations in a month and what is the length of each operation?

63. How many operations will take place in a year and the time for each operation?

64. What are the number of planes and how many times will they be making it over the planned path? Will there be 100 passes, 200 etc?

65. What are the day and night noises going to be from the highest to the lowest decibel levels?

66. What is the topography of this airstrip?

67. The proposed Camden County OLF site appears to overlap with property owned by the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide. Has the Navy been in discussions with Blackwater about the proposed OLF site? If so, what is the nature of these discussions? Has the Navy reached any agreements with Blackwater Worldwide either verbally or in writing? If so, what are the details of this agreement? How many times have Navy officials met with or discussed the proposed Camden OLF site with Blackwater officials?

68. The proposed Camden County OLF site appears to be in direct conflict with operations at the private military contractor Blackwater Worldwide site. How does the Navy plan to mitigate hazards to the jets and pilots associated with live automatic gunfire from Blackwater? Blackwater has one landing strip and is currently building another 6,000 foot landing strip on its compound. How does the Navy intend to address the issue of conflicting air space with Blackwater?

69. Has Blackwater Worldwide proposed to build the OLF in Camden County for the Navy? If so, what are the details of this proposal?

70. There are three schools located nearby the proposed airfield, what will be the noise level for the schools based on the flight path? What will be the constant noise levels during the day with the flight operations?

71. Is the Navy willing to provide any special noise and pollution protection for the children when they are outside during classes or any noise abatement for interior of buildings?

72. What impact will the chemical residue left behind by jet fuel to the agricultural and animal farming in the local areas? Will this drive the farmers out of the area due to chemical hazards?

73. What health issues will ensue from loud noise levels to include lack of sleep, lack of concentration, chemical residue?

74. Has the government done any studies to determine the economic impact to the area or do they not care about the taxpayers who are already struggling with the present economics?

75. The Currituck and Camden areas are located on the Atlantic Flyaway path. Has the Navy studied the impact of the bird and wildlife migration and can they provide us information on this question?

76. What streams and animal reserve areas will be affected by the residue from the jet fuel?

77. How will construction of this facility impact the local residents as well as the tourism?

78. What roads will be built to access this facility and will it traverse any streams, residential areas etc?

79. During the recent field fires the county had, peat bog areas burned for 30 days, has the Navy determined the safety factor of this volatile situation?

80. What burden will there be to local taxpayers for fire extinguishing if the bogs catch on fire or other accidents occur?

81. Since Currituck County is a high tourist attraction, what will the noise level do to the economy?

82. What are the economic benefits to Camden and Currituck County to have this facility since it has so few jobs associated with the proposed site? It appears that that Virginia will be gaining the benefit monetarily and we gain the noise, pollution, and inconvenience!

Respectfully submitted,

OLF Committee
RiversEdge Homeowners Association

April 28, 2008