The local Quiet Skies Burien group sent out the following update on Saturday, March 31, 2018:
TURNING POINT PART 2
PURPOSE: To ask that you keep three dates open should we need to demonstrate a show of commitment to the City Council and Mr. David Soumi, Northwest Mountain Regional Administrator, FAA.
Those dates are:
- Monday April 2
- Monday April 16
- Tuesday April 24
In August of 2016 the FAA began directing north departing Q400 turbo props automatically over Burien. In February of 2017 the City filed a petition with the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals that had the effect of halting the automated turns. (Petition here) The FAA however still intermittently directs some flights over Burien whether departing north or south. This action appears contrary to the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). We, as citizens of Burien are entitled to and expect full compliance by the FAA.
Last June the FAA published their Preliminary Environmental Analysis (PEA) justifying north departure turns of turbo propeller aircraft over Burien. Initially they gave affected citizens two weeks to respond. We did, submitting over 700 comments.
We were then told the FAA would respond by November 2017, that slipped to the first part of 2018, then that slipped to sometime in March and now that’s been postponed until “after the 2nd of April.”
To our knowledge, none of the citizen comments have been addressed. So far we have heard nothing specific from the FAA. We must ask ourselves: what are they doing, why the silence?
Unless delayed again, we expect that shortly after the April 2 the FAA may release a decision. We’re working with the City Manager, City Attorney, and the Attorney from the Dentons law firm to keep track of this development as best as possible. We will update you when we learn more.
Since the FAA appears not to be following the NEPA procedures, we suspect but don’t know for sure they may offer a “compromise.” We don’t know, we are speculating.
If we receive word that this is the direction the FAA is headed, we as citizens have two opportunities to express our opposition to any compromise to the City Council: the Monday nights of April 2nd and April 16th.
In addition we are planning to have a community meeting on the night of Tuesday April 24th, more on that later in another email. We would like you to keep those dates open in preparation to demonstrate.
Should you be interested in asking what happened to your comments regarding the FAA’s Preliminary Environmental Analysis, you can write to Mr. Soumi for an explanation:
Mr. Soumi
Federal Aviation Administration, Northwest Mountain Region
1601 Lind Avenue Southwest
Renton, WA 98057Thank you for your support!
