Vashon Island Fair Skies

29 September 2023:
Final Day to Submit a Comment on the FAA’s Noise Policy Review 

Background info: https://www.faa.gov/noisepolicyreview

VIFS Summitted Comment: https://vifs.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/09/NoisePolicyReview-FAA-2023-0855-0001-Comments_From_VIFS.pdf

To Submit a comment: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FAA-2023-0855-0001

Mission Statement
Bringing fairness to ongoing FAA airspace redesign efforts, and justice to those who woke up one day to find a razor sharp superhighway of hundreds of low flying jets a day laser focused over their previously peaceful homes and farms.

 

7 April 2021 UPDATE: 
Public comment on the FAA’s new noise study, called the “Neighborhood Environmental Survey” or NES is being accepted through April 14th, though perhaps only until noon EDT so it’s best to get your comment in at least a day before the deadline.  The comment link is: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FAA-2021-0037-0001 .
We’ve put together additional information on the NES, and the kind of comments that would be most impactful at this link.  Please don’t miss this once in a generation opportunity to submit official comments on a noise study.

Zip Code 98070 now registers twice as many noise complaints, on average, as any other Seattle area Zip Code — thanks to you and in large part the Airnoise.io button:

July 27th 2019 Meeting Recap:
Around 70 people attended and the slides are available in the “Information Downloads” section below.

Agenda included:
– Quick recap of the FAA’s NextGen program, which effectively put a new runway over the Island.
– Status of Vashon noise monitors.
– News from other communities around the country fighting NextGen.

The big surprise through, was an in-person appearance by Chris McCann, creator of the Airnoise Button:  https://airnoise.io

Chris McCann and David Goebel presenting.
Chris McCann and David Goebel Presenting: Land Trust Build – July 27th 2019
In addition to the physical button, reports of intolerable plane noise can also be made at their web site.  What’s unique about the service is automatically creating, and filing with the airport, a detailed report identifying the specific plane with its location and altitude based on your address.

 

While using the button requires home WiFi and a $5/month paid account with Airnoise.io, they also have a free option which you use by clicking a button on the web site (either from a computer or your phone) that allows up to 30 complaints a month.  As we’ve always stressed at meetings, the number of unique people filing complaints is more important than the gross number of complaints, so this free option is still very helpful.  You can always upgrade later if you want.

 

VIFS purchased 100 buttons to sell at our cost of $23 each.  We still have some left.  Email ‘button’ at this domain if you would like to get one.  Even if you can’t or don’t want to setup a button, please do checkout the free option at the Airnoise.io web site if you’re being oppressed by plane noise.

Strawberry Festival 2019

We were at Vashon Island’s 110th annual Strawberry Festival the weekend of July 19th 2019. 

This year we featured a large map of the Island where people could put colored pins where they live if they’re being oppressed by the new — and completely unfair — focusing and dumping of plane noise on Vashon Island.  We asked people to self-identify arrivals vs. departures, which often helped to explain the changes NextGen has wrought upon the Island.

Information Downloads:

Slide decks from recent meetings: March 2018,  July 2018, Sep 2018, and July 2019
A “one-pager” of the NextGen change impacting Vashon: What Changed
The petition: Description and the Current/Proposed Noise Monitor Locations
How to report plane noise: Noise Reporting Card

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Too many spam entries -- sorry for the extra work. Yes, the obvious city Northeast of us.

Contact Us
For email, please send to ‘info’ at this domain.

Our phone number is 682-8638. Please use area code 206 when dialing.

For postal mail please send to:
Vashon Island Fair Skies
PO Box 1250
Vashon, WA 98070

Events Calendar

About Us
Vashon Island Fair Skies was founded by a group of citizens, led by 23 year resident David Goebel, on rural and peaceful Vashon Island in the Puget Sound, whose lives have been turned upside down by an FAA decision (substantially implemented in 2015) to lower and focus SeaTac flight arrival paths into a razor sharp track about 100 yards wide over the Island. For many decades flight paths far from the airport had been fairly dispersed in a swath miles wide, so no single community bore the full brunt. With the FAA’s NextGen airspace redesign, the environmental damage is now hyper-focused, needlessly wrecking the lives of people under these arbitrary lines of environmental destruction. In effect, the airport’s runway – with all its environmental consequences – has been extended 30 or more miles beyond the airport over unsuspecting communities.

Rob Briggs serves as Vice President and Beth Anne Freiling as Secretary.

We aim to accomplish four initial goals. On a high level they are: (1) Stop the abuse, (2) Help fix the problem, (3) Help others elsewhere stop the abuse, and (4) Prevent future abuse.

Specifically they are:
(1) Vashon Island Fair Skies, first and foremost, will restore — by any legal means necessary — the pre-NextGen arrival paths and procedures at Seattle/Tacoma International Airport that had been in place for 30 years, and with substantially similar paths/procedures for decades before that.

(2) When the injustice of NextGen arrival paths is reversed, we will work with the FAA to study what went wrong in the design and implementation of NextGen at SeaTac and help to create improved designs that use new technology to reduce noise for everybody, not focus the noise with devastating impact over a quiet and peaceful rural Island accessible only by ferry.

(3) We also seek to share our experience and lessons with other communities and activist groups around the country whose lives have also been shattered by the FAA’s NextGen program.

(4) Finally, NextGen has taught us that we cannot expect the government to notify us in advance of plans to wreak environment havoc on the Island and need to be vigilant in constantly and proactively monitoring any branch of the government that could seek to use Vashon Island as a place to dump the region’s pollutants, including, but not limited to, aircraft noise.

DONATIONS
Vashon Island Fair Skies is a WA State Not For Profit corporation and a federally recognized 501(c)3 Public Charity (EIN 82-5451411).  Our determination letter, dated 12/13/18, is here.  It can take some time for our details to disseminate to various databases, but the letter is sufficient evidence of our status.

Donations are deductible from US federal income taxes beginning in calendar year 2018.

We haven’t yet commenced a specific fundraising campaign, however donations are always welcome.  You can either mail a check (payable to “Vashon Island Fair Skies”) to the above postal address or use this PayPal button for an online contribution.




Thank You!