Live near Santa Monica Airport? It looks like the city should have been taking the concerns of community groups complaining about airport pollution more seriously. A new study by researchers at the University of California, Los Angeles, found worryingly high levels of air pollution at Santa Monica Airport — which has them calling for larger buffers at urban airports. According to the L.A. Times:

Ultrafine particle emissions were 10 times higher than normal about 300 feet downwind of the runway’s east end, where takeoffs generally start. The levels were 2.5 times higher than normal at a distance of about 2,000 feet.”

While big, commercial airports get the most attention when it comes to air pollution concerns, this study shows that regional and municipal airports can also be major health hazards — especially if they’re in densely-populated urban neighborhoods.

The L.A. Times reports that another soon-to-be-published study by the South Coast Air Quality Management District are consistent with the UCLA study’s findings, which you can purchase for $30.

Affected by the Santa Monica Airport pollution? You can join up with fellow community members also concerned about the issue via the Santa Monica Airport Committee of the Mar Vista Community Council or C.R.A.P.P. (Concerned Residents Against Airport Pollution).

Update, 11/24/09: Here’s some more info about the Santa Monica Airport issue from Councilmember Kevin McKeown:

Siel, the city has taken this VERY seriously; at least, I have. Take a look at this video from two and a half years ago (I start about half way through).

Unfortunately, while the airport is on our land, the regulation of air travel in and out of it is controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration. We are currently in litigation with the FAA over a ban we passed to restrict the fastest jets on safety grounds.

Some years ago I met with representatives from the federal Environmental Protection Agency to see if maybe THEY had some regulations on the emissions from aircraft. I was told they do, but only for engines generating more than 37.5 kilonewtons of thrust, larger by far than those used on the planes at Santa Monica Airport.

While we are the easy local target on this, the city of Santa Monica has very limited power over the aircraft using SMO. As seriously as we have taken resident and neighbor concerns about safety and pollution, all that
has gotten us so far is into administrative hearings and courtrooms.

Our obvious hope is that with a new President and a new administration, the FAA’s disdain for local safety and pollution issues will be replaced with responsive reasonableness. We have yet to see that.

Thanks, Kevin

Photo by mcclave

0 Comments