Safe Skies comments on Airport Joint Use Agreement with Air National Guard
Date: November 5, 2023
To: Dane County Public Works & Transportation Committee
From: Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
Subject: Comments on Item D.1. – 2023 RES-168 – AUTHORIZING EXECUTION OF AIRPORT JOINT USE AGREEMENT WITH THE UNITED STATES AND THE STATE OF WISCONSIN
On behalf of residents of Dane County that comprise Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin, I am submitting comments to the Dane County Public Works & Transportation Committee as it considers the Airport Joint Use Agreement (JUA) between Dane County, and the State of Wisconsin and United States acting through the National Guard Bureau. The JUA allows the Wisconsin Air National Guard and Wisconsin Army National Guard to operate at the Dane County Regional Airport. The JUA will allow the national guard to use the county airport for 10 years as long as they pay $100 and provide fire fighting services at the airport.
The Public Works & Transportation Committee should not rubber stamp a flawed Joint Use Agreement that results in significant financial, safety and health costs to Dane County residents. Neither should Resolution 168 nor the JUA be approved until a more thorough evaluation is completed which determines all of the financial, safety and health costs associated with the county airport hosting the Wisconsin Air National Guard and Wisconsin Army National Guard.
Some of the issues that have not been addressed are:
1. The continued presence of the National Guard in the City of Madison creates significant costs to the residents of Dane County and Madison that are not addressed by the JUA.
2. The recent decision by the Air Force to deploy a squadron of F-35 fighter jets to Truax Field will further expand the financial, safety and health impacts of national guard operations on area residents.
3. In 2018, the Wisconsin DNR found the county airport and Wisconsin Air National Guard (WANG) responsible for PFAS contamination of surrounding groundwater, Starkweather Creek and the Yahara Chain of Lakes. The PFAS contamination has primarily been caused by the WANG use of PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam. The required investigation and remediation of the PFAS contamination has been conducted at a snail’s pace. Meanwhile Municipal Well #15 has been shut down. Dane County has only now begun to contact private wells owners near the airport determine if their wells are contaminated with PFAS. There are still considerable health risks from using Starkweather Creek and the Yahara chain of lakes and fish consumption due to PFAS contamination. Before the Joint Use Agreement is approved, Dane County should evaluate the expected cost of completing the investigation and remediation of the PFAS contamination, and the costs of health risks that have been caused by exposure to PFAS contaminated private and municipal water and fish.
Prior to approving the JUA, the cost for complete investigation and cleanup of PFAS contamination caused by WANG to our groundwater and lakes should be estimated and compared with any benefit associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
4. The Air Force determined that nearly 3,000 people will now live in areas considered incompatible for residential housing due to noise impacts of the F-35 fighter jets. The county airport must now update its Part 150 noise abatement plan to address the increased noise impacts.
Prior to approving the JUA, the cost for updating the county airport Part 150 plan should be determined and compared with the benefit associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
5. The county airport is evaluating the land uses within the FAA noise standard of 65 decibels DNL. People living within this noise contour may receive funding for noise abatement such as purchase of their homes, relocation, noise insulating doors and windows, etc. The Burlington International Airport updated its Part 150 noise abatement plan due to the incoming F-35 fighter jets and budgeted over $200 million for noise abatement measures. It will take Burlington nearly 33 years to mitigate all the affected homes!
Prior to approving the JUA, the cost of noise abatement that will be required by the county airport should be estimated and compared with the benefits associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
6. To update its Part 150 noise abatement plan, the county airport is using the current FAA noise standard of 65 dBA DNL. This standard is over 50 years old and doesn’t address the myriad of impacts of noise exposure on the health and well-being of surrounding residents. Most of the 60,000 people that live within three miles of the county airport will receive no noise abatement funding. The county airport has rejected all public comments from surrounding neighborhoods as well as the Madison Teachers Union which asked the airport to provide a more accurate and responsible noise evaluation and abatement plan. For example, no schools will be included in the study; only daily averages, not peak noise levels will be considered. (Noise monitors have measured peak noise levels over 120 decibels – sufficient for hearing damage.) Impacts on educational performance on children will not be considered. Impacts on children’s health will not be considered. (In his letter to Vermont public officials, Peter Bingham, Professor of Neurology and Chief of the Pediatric Neurology Division at the University of Vermont Medical Center, explained the effects of noise from their F-35 jets on children including: decreased reading skills; increased risk of mortality due to heart attack; increased anxiety and depression; increased attention problems; and increased aggressive behavior.) Finally, the reduction in property values on the north and east sides of Madison will not be considered. So far, the county airport has worked to avoid public input, downplay noise impacts on Madison residents, and hinder adequate noise abatement relief.
Prior to approving the JUA, the costs associated with the health and education impacts caused by noise generated by the county airport and WANG F-35 fighter jets should be estimated and compared with the benefits associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
7. The Air Force acknowledges that the greatest impacts of the F-35 fighter jet deployment in Madison will fall on the low-income and minority families forced to live near the county airport. When updating its Part 150 noise abatement plan, the county airport has refused to address, much less evaluate, the environmental injustice and environmental racism caused by noise from airport and WANG operations.
Prior to approving the JUA, the impacts and costs to low-income and minority families living adjacent to the county airport and Truax Field should be evaluated and compared with the benefit associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
8. Last month, a pilot ejected from his F-35 fighter jet in South Carolina due to a malfunction. The jet flew 60 miles without a pilot until it crashed. The F-35 jet is prone to malfunctions and crashes. Due to its composite construction, a fire from an F-35 crash would be a far more toxic event than a typical blaze.
Prior to approving the JUA, the cost of a toxic and fatal F-35 fighter jet crash in Dane County should be estimated and compared with the benefit associated with the continued presence of WANG at the airport.
9. The Air National Guard units in other states have abandoned the mission of training fighter jet pilots and have selected one of more than 40 other missions available to the ANG. For example, the ANG in Iowa stopped training fighter jet pilots and now contract for fire-fighting services. Earlier this year, Colonel Rosanne Greco, USAF (Ret.) discussed the impacts of F-35 fighter jets with area residents. She stated that a federal senator, such as Wisconsin Senators Tammy Baldwin or Ron Johnson, can ask the Air Force to change the WANG mission.
Prior to approving the JUA, the option of contracting for fire-fighting services from other than WANG should be estimated and compared with the total costs associated with the continued presence of WANG at the county airport.
10. Earlier this year, Colonel Rosanne Greco, USAF (Ret.) discussed the impacts of F-35 fighter jets with area residents. She stated that a federal senator, such as Wisconsin Senators Tammy Baldwin or Ron Johnson, can ask the Air Force to change the WANG mission.
Prior to approving the JUA, Dane County should contact Wisconsin Senators Tammy Baldwin or Ron Johnson and ask them to obtain a new mission for WANG. They should obtain a mission which poses far less financial, safety and health impacts to the residents of Madison and Dane County.
On behalf of Safe Skies Clean Water Wisconsin
Steven Klafka, P.E., BCEE, Environmental Engineer