Denver keeps forking over fines to Adams County, the neighbor to Denver International, because of noise from the airport.
But the noise is calculated by computer model instead of real measurements, the agreement was based on a different number of runways than what are actually really there … and, in some cases, the “noise violations” are lower than the ambient noise in neighborhoods.
“There was never a commitment on the part of the communities of Adams County that we would be quiet,” said Rob Coney, director of planning and development for the Adams County who took part in the airport annexation and noise issue talks 14 years ago.
The situation is frustrating to Denver officials, who are obligated to keep average annual airplane noise over three large chunks of Adams County and Aurora to within a range from 31.4 to 51.7 decibels in neighborhoods where existing noise is louder.
[…] For example, the 1988 agreement sets a limit of 37.7 decibels for average annual airplane noise at Washington Street and Thornton Parkway in Thornton. Denver is facing a $500,000 fine because noise there for last year’s flights was calculated at 45.2 decibels, well over the limit.
But a monitoring station nearby registered neighborhood noise at an average of 56.5 decibels on both Sept. 11 and 12. That’s 1.6 decibels higher than on Sept. 4 and just 0.3 decibels lower than what was measured there on Sept. 5.
And, remarkably enough, the Adams Co. officials complain that Denver is being “blatantly arrogant” in not offering to buy up a bunch of houses.
This is one of my top ten “semi-ethical ways of gaining money,” after Denver was said to have paid citizens who owned houses in that area as part of one of the first settlements… the top ten list also includes “selling domain names.”