Richmond Activists to Demand Fairness in Jet Flight Paths
March 8, 2000

A group of Richmond residents, determined to have a voice in how local airports route noisy jet airplanes, will protest last week's denial of their city's request for membership on an key advisory panel for noise issues.

Several neighborhoods in Richmond are sending representatives to the Oakland Airport Community Noise Management Forum on March 15th (the meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at 530 Water Street, Jack London Square in Oakland; residents will rally there at 6:15 p.m). The group wants Richmond to have a say in deciding on the routing for jets taking off from Oakland Airport.

"We think it's incredible that the forum makes decisions about what are acceptable noise levels and leaves out the one community over which all of the evening North and Eastbound departing flights fly. It's an outrage," says Christine Cordi. She and fellow Richmond resident Millicent Yee recently started a petition drive to have jet traffic fairly distributed at night, as it is during the day.

Cordi says local residents are upset because both Oakland and San Francisco airports deliberately routed all of their North and East bound departures from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. over the Bay to Richmond after other communities complained about noise. "When do we get to sleep when we have one plane over our heads every six minutes?" she asks.

Neighbors are concerned about the potential for even more noise when both airports complete their expansion plans. Oakland Airport will also almost double its air cargo shipments, which are transported by late night flights. After complaints to Richmond Mayor Rosemary Corbin, the City Council and Congressman George Miller, Corbin met with residents and the Federal Aviation Administration. Sandi Genser-Maack, President of the North & East Neighborhood Council, says the FAA responded that there would have to be a "consensus" before things were changed.

"There won't be a consensus because right now, the other communities that have seats on the Forum have what they want: no evening noise. This is an environmental justice issue," says Genser-Maack. "There is no reason why Richmond should be the dumping ground for all of this undesirable air traffic."