Community patience wears thin as Vermont Air National Guard, BTV officials present new F-35 sound mitigation plans – VTDigger

SOUTH BURLINGTON — The Vermont Air National Guard on Wednesday detailed a new initiative to use afterburners on the F-35s based at the Patrick Leahy International Airport to mitigate the impact of noise from the fighter planes on local communities.

The initiative is likely months away from approval or implementation. But if approved, use of afterburners — which act as auxiliary jets that add power to the aircraft’s engine, increasing thrust on takeoff — could allow the F-35s to take off from a shorter distance and achieve a higher altitude upon take off, according to Col. Daniel Finnegan, the 158th Fighter Wing Commander.

By then reducing the power at the higher altitude, sound pollution from the aircraft could be significantly reduced, he said.

Early conversations with sound engineers suggest this initiative could remove “thousands of people” from a local noise contour line, “including, potentially, the entire city of Winooski,” Finnegan said at an evening roundtable event Wednesday night at the airport.

The press event was scheduled as patience with the mission has worn thin. In recent months, four Chittenden County municipalities have introduced resolutions calling for the reconsideration of the airport as the base for the Vermont Air National Guard’s F-35 mission.

Finnegan on Wednesday said this new takeoff method could make a difference for communities that are affected by the noise. The guard would “start flying this new takeoff profile right away, if we could,” but said the initiative must go through a new federal environmental impact study, expected to begin in January and end in March.

Afterburners are not allowed at the airport, Finnegan said, based on restrictions set from a similar 2013 study. “This restriction was set based on what I believe is a fundamental misunderstanding of afterburners used by folks who were opposed to the basing of the F-35s during its initial conversations,” he said.

“As both members of this community and those who serve it, we remain fully committed to minimizing our noise impact,” Finnegan said. “The supplemental (study) is another step in fulfilling our long standing commitment to be responsible stewards of the community and to do everything we can to improve with that.”

But for many residents who have been vocally opposed to the F-35s since they arrived — like former South Burlington City Councilor, Meghan Emery — the plan to use afterburners to reduce noise represents “a nightmare scenario,” she said.

“It shows how desperate and impossible the task is to reduce noise with the F-35s here,” Emery said. “It underscores… that this is an incompatible mission. There’s no other word, it’s incompatible, and it is time for our senior leaders to stand up for the residents in this area of Vermont who are suffering.”

The F-35s have been based at the airport since 2019. There are currently 20 planes at the base that are used for training purposes, according to Col. Michael Blair. The mission employs hundreds of people, and brings $63 million a year into the local economy through pay and benefits alone, he said.

“We are here. Our people are called on whenever the state is in an emergency,” Finnegan said. “All of those things are a byproduct of having 1,000 people here to support the F-35s.”

The guard also works collaboratively with the airport. Nic Longo, the airport’s director of aviation, said the guard provides sole firefighting services at this airport, and provides mutual aid to all surrounding communities at no cost.

The Vermont Air National Guard leases more than 281 acres at the Burlington airport, and was recently approved for a 25-year lease extension by the Burlington City Council.

“That’s extremely important because not a single commercial flight operation could occur at this airport without the support of the fire department that is there,” Longo said.

But the mission has been vehemently opposed by some members of the community since the aircraft arrived. Their flight causes thundering sound effects throughout Chittenden County that some argue is detrimental to residents’ quality of life.

In August, Burlington passed a resolution directing the city to discuss the F-35s basing with Vermont’s congressional delegation. That was followed by similar resolutions in Winooski and South Burlington, where the airport is located. Williston this month introduced a resolution as well but tabled it.

“I respect the work and the commitment of the Air National Guard. I know they serve an important purpose for the country in terms of national defense. I don’t want to diminish anything about their mission here at all,” Tim Barritt, the chair of the South Burlington City Council said during the meeting. “But, again, this is an opportunity for the communities to state that the noise is an incompatible use, period. It’s just an incompatible use.”

Finnegan, in response to questions about the resolutions at the roundtable event, said “there is no discussion and there is no plan for mission change.”

“We’ve been working hard to reduce the noise through various mitigation efforts, and our goal has always been to balance our mission with the responsibility to the community,” Finnegan said.

Both the airport and the guard have taken steps to try and mitigate the noise effects from the military aircraft.

A residential sound insulation program, which the airport launched in 2022, remains ongoing, and will soon enter its fourth phase. Roughly 25 homeowners have participated in the program since its launch.

The guard’s proposal on Wednesday came in tandem with the release of a new sound map. Rereleased every five years, the map uses data accumulated from “every single flight operation at his airport,” Longo said, and is a key component guiding the airport’s ongoing sound insulation program.

The airport’s previous map, released in 2019, was produced prior to the F-35s basing at the airport, and used data associated with the environmental impact statement, as well as projected flight operational data from F-35s at other airports, Longo said.

The map released Wednesday, however, reduces the noise contour line and, in effect, reduces the number of housing units that were previously eligible for the noise insulation program, Longo said, from roughly 2,600 homes down to approximately 2,400.

“That also means that the noise is less than what the projected forecast was back in 2019, so there’s a reduction in the forecasted noise, a real reduction in what we actually have collected with radar information as well as noise information,” he said.

The Federal Aviation Administration has committed roughly $5 million annually to the insulation program, enough to fund the work in up to 50 homes a year, Longo said. (The program is voluntary).

The airport itself has applied for a nearly $18 million grant opportunity from the U.S. Department of Defense that would provide more funding for homeowners seeking to modify their homes to protect from aircraft noise, Longo said during the roundtable meeting. 

“If we can get $18 million, we can vastly advance this program,” Longo said in an interview.

These initiatives, however, are months or possibly years away from approval or implementation.

Barritt said that while the sound insulation program in South Burlington has been “a very slow progression,” it has been a benefit nonetheless to those most affected by the F-35s takeoff.

“But I don’t see a way for the guard to be able to attenuate their noise,” he said. “I don’t think it will make a real difference to the people in Winooski if they change their takeoff power and adjust it when they achieve elevation.”

Emery, in an interview, said the only achievable balance she sees is to decrease the number of flights.

“I would think that the military would have a minimum threshold where it’s no longer tenable to have the F-35 here — that they would find a more appropriate site for it. So, we might not be able to find that sweet spot because of the Air Force’s thresholds and all of the different criteria and factors that go into their decision making,” she said.

She added, “I think it’s feasible that there could not be a compromise that would meet their needs and meet the needs of the people here.”