Dear Supporters,
Please attend this Monday's BUR meeting at 9 a.m. sharp -- either in person or by phone -- and make a 1-minute public comment. Please see below and reply to uproarla@gmail.com if you plan to make a comment or if you have questions.
We're also sharing updates on the City of L.A.'s BUR terminal case and the FAA's Environmental Assessment (EA) on the new flight paths at BUR.
Make your voice heard on Monday! Thank you for your support.
UproarLA team
L.A. GETS A "WIN" IN BUR TERMINAL CASE
In its decision, the Ninth Circuit directed the “FAA to address the deficiency in its construction noise analysis, the resulting deficiency in its cumulative impacts analysis, and the resulting deficiency in its environmental impacts analysis." Though only a partial win, it will likely delay construction of BUR’s new terminal.
PLEASE ATTEND BUR MEETING MONDAY, APRIL 3RD, 9:00AM SHARP AND MAKE A PUBLIC COMMENT
BUR’s Commission Meetings have been focused on planning their new terminal. We must insist that BUR recognize the harm to our community! Please either call in (818) 862-3332 right at 9am or attend in person this Monday, April 3rd at 9:00am for Public Comment. For location and parking information, click here. Please limit your comment to ONE MINUTE. Note that Public Comment begins within the first few minutes of the meeting so you must be on time right at 9:00am. To watch a live stream online, click here. However, you must call in to speak at 9:00am to (818) 862-3332. There is no video option to speak.
PUBLIC COMMENT TOPICS
1. AIRFIELD SAFETY: There were TWO BUR NEAR MISS COLLISIONS within one month. The first near-miss collision occurred on February 22 when an arriving Mesa Airlines jet nearly collided with a departing SkyWest jet. The second occurred on March 18 between an arriving Southwest jet and a helicopter that was practicing on the runway. Both near-miss collisions made countless headlines in national and local news. Click here to see just some of the coverage that Studio City for Quiet Skies has compiled. The new BUR terminal is being touted and defended as a “safety” project by BUR. In an Interview a mere two days before the first near miss, Commission President Emily Gabel-Luddy made statements regarding safety:
“In order to achieve the standard that's required for safety purposes, part of our improvements will be not only the replacement terminal, but making sure that the airfield and the taxiways are done in a way that comply with contemporary FAA standards. Above all, safety and accessibility are the objectives."
However, there are known federal safety deficiencies on the airfield and runways at BUR that the new terminal WILL NOT address. Commission President Gabel-Luddy’s statement is NOT TRUE and the Commissioners must be called out for building a new terminal on an unsafe airfield! It is such a serious issue that the former Executive Director of BUR (and 30-year BUR employee) has recently written letters to the City Councils of Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena, as well as to BUR commissioners and staff, outlining unsafe conditions that will NOT be rectified with the new terminal. The airfield safety questions below are derived from his letters. 2. JET NOISE: Commission President Gabel-Luddy in her Interview, also made statements regarding noise:
"We, as a commission, want planes up and out. We don't know exactly why there was a southern drift of the flight path, but there was. We still advocate for an up and out policy to move planes up into the air as quickly as possible and get them as high above residential areas as possible.”
Again Commission President Gabel-Luddy's statements are NOT TRUE! The Commission knows why the path moved south (see video) and they are NOT advocating for an "up and out policy!"
POSSIBLE TALKING POINTS TO CHOOSE FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: First 7 bullet points pertain to Airfield Safety. Last 5 bullet points pertain to Jet Noise. Choose some that are important to you but limit your comment to 1 minute.
The recent 9th Circuit decision requires you to address deficiencies in your Environmental Impact Statement. Will you use this as an opportunity to take a hard look at your airfield and fix all known safety defects?
In light of the TWO near-mid-air collisions at BUR within one month, what are you doing to make the airfield safer? Commissioner Gabel-Luddy states that safety is paramount, so why aren’t you fixing all the airfield safety defects?
Don’t you think having a safe airfield and safe runways is at least as important as having a new terminal?
The BUR commissioners are really only concerned with increasing profits for the airport. Safety should be the number one priority! How can you spend 1.24 billion dollars on a “safety project” at BUR and not fix the taxiways and runways as part of it?
Commission President Gabel-Luddy says that she wants to make “sure that the airfield and the taxiways are done in a way that comply with contemporary FAA standards.” I agree with her. Isn’t Taxiway G substandard with no plans to fix it?
The Burbank voters approved a plan that included demolishing the existing substandard Taxiway G and replacing it with an extension of Taxiway B. Why did you choose to remove that critical safety improvement from the plan?
Didn’t the Burbank Airport sue California High Speed Rail alleging safety concerns for the segment near the airport? Why are you more concerned with the safety of the High Speed Rail project than your own airfield and runways?
Put people over profits! There are now more than 3.6 million Airnoise complaints against the airport. Fix the safety defects in your airfield and finally address the noise/pollution issues plaguing your LA neighbors. It’s in your power to partner with FAA to get it done.
Following the Task Force that ended in 2020, Van Nuys Airport put a request on the IFP Gateway for the FAA to revert to historical flight patterns from before NextGen. The Burbank Airport was part of the same Task Force, so why hasn’t it made that same formal request to the FAA through the IFP Gateway?
Commission President Gabel-Luddy acknowledged in her recent interview that there is a continuing noise problem from BUR, and "advocates for an up and out policy." You were the Chair of the Noise Task Force and now you are the Commission President. Why haven’t you advocated for an "up and out" policy with the FAA? Why haven't you insisted on putting an official request on the IFP Gateway, as only an airport can do?
The noise and pollution from low flying and loud BUR jets are out of control. BUR should be working with the FAA to reduce noise impacts on their neighbors in Los Angeles. Instead, we are completely disregarded and continually harmed by noise and pollution exported from BUR’s low flying aircraft.
We have been begging this airport for 5 years now to do something to address noise and pollution impacts on areas away from the airport that did not have overflights prior to FAA NextGen. The airport has used the City of LA lawsuits as an excuse to do nothing. Now that the lawsuits are over, will you finally partner with the FAA to help your LA neighbors? It is in your power to act!
NEWS ABOUT THE BUR FLIGHT PATHS ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT
The FAA posted an update to their Community Engagement page on March 21, noting that the EA that was announced in March 2019 is still in process, and that “the FAA will provide future updates about the EA on this website later this year.” The most recent update before this one, from November 2, 2020, stated that the FAA “continues to move forward” with the EA and promised “a timeline for the EA process.” It's been 4 years without an actual timeline!