The Tyranny of Noise

Robert Alex Baron

Part III — Chapter 7 — The Politics Of Noise

A decibel limit that permits intolerable noise levels in perpetuity was set some ten years ago by the Port of New York Authority for its major airports. This maximum was arrived at by determining the noise level that would be no greater than the noise produced by 75 per cent of the large four-engine propeller-driven transports; it protected the aviation industry, not the public. Business Week reported the words of one government official who said that this maximum "renders the surrounding area 'unfit for human habitation.'" Before this limit was introduced, people were already instituting lawsuits against propeller craft generating less noise than this limit.

Perhaps it was technologically necessary to start with an unsatisfactory limit. But what is the justification for not reducing it in the decade or more since it was introduced? Because of the sheer increase in the number of plane movements, substantial reductions in noise level would be needed to hold the line at the already intolerable existing levels.

The Port of New York Authority justifies its standard by claiming that without it, the jet noises would have been even higher. This is like telling the public it should be grateful it is living surrounded by medium cannon fire rather than big cannon fire.