Reprinted from The Bulletin, Toronto's Downtown Newspaper, March 2010

Did TPA try to stifle noise meet?

by Brian Iler

Community members attending the Toronto Port Authority’s poorly-advertised “public meeting”  last February 17 found to their surprise that there were no chairs – and no intention of holding a meeting  where everyone attending could her the questions asked, and the answers, if any.

Instead, an array of panels summarizing the TPA’s consultant’s report on noise amelioration were placed about the room, with TPA staff and consultants standing by to answer questions one-on-one.

Strenuous efforts by many of those attending to convert the event into a “real”  meeting were strenuously rebuffed by new TPA CEO Geoff Wilson – until City Councillor Adam Vaughan intervened, and a compromise was reached: all those attending would stand near a panel, ask their questions, and all could then hear the answers.

“The TPA were clearly  - and vainly –  trying to avoid effective discussion.” said Ulla Colgrass, a resident of York Quay. “We made sure they didn’t get away with it.”

The TPA had advertised the “meeting” only the previous Friday, by placing small ads in the Star and Sun

The Toronto Port Authority presented its consultant’s noise report to a sceptical crowd last February 17.

Although a “Noise Management Advisory Group” had been established by the TPA in co-operation with local Councillors after the last public meeting in November 2008, members of that Group, which has representation from all waterfront groups, told the meeting that they had not had any opportunity to provide input into the report.

“In fact” said Julie Beddoes, a rep on the Group from the Gooderham and Worts Neighbourhood Association, “the consultant’s presentation of it at our last meeting, in July, was never completed. Even though the TPA promised to call another Group meeting to complete the presentation and obtain the Group’s input, it never did.”

Joan Prowse, a Bathurst Quay resident, and another  member of the Group, told those assembled: “I noted back in July thatsome noise readings  were misleading, as they were taken when the wind was blowing from the north, reducing the noise from the airport. Your Chair Mark McQueen used that finding to tell the media that motorcycle noise was louder than airport noise. He was wrong. But that misleading finding still appears in the report you presented tonight.“

Said Brenda Roman, another Bathurst Quay resident: “The report itself is a mish-mash of basic noise measurement theory and some noise readings taken last Spring that confirm what we’ve been saying with increasing concern: that airport noise is too loud and too frequent. It concludes with sixteen recommendations to deal with noise – all of which are absolutely off-the-shelf, obvious, and for the most part ought to have been implemented years ago – if the TPA was really sincere about addressing community concerns.”

Missing from the TPA’s report was a noise forecast, promised in the Terms of Reference originally posted by the TPA.

“The TPA announced on Christmas Eve that up to 212 slots (landings and takeoffs) per day are planned - double the current Porter volume. We asked how that volume of traffic could possibly fit within the noise constraints on the Island Airport.” said Pam Mazza, speaking for CommunityAIR. “In our view, the only way that could possibly  happen is if they dump medevac and private planes. They told us their report on the 212 slots was confidential.”

“Where the 212 slots come from is a mystery to all of us” she said . “According to the many previous studies, the maximum number ranges between 97 and 167. It all depends on the volume of other traffic.”

A number of those present asked that the TPA stop its marketing of those extra slots to Porter and other airlines until that report is released to the public, and peer-reviewed.

Nancy Wo, a resident of Bathurst Quay, told the meeting that she and her family are too often awakened in the middle of the night by aircraft breaching the Island Airport curfew. ”My nine-year old son needs his sleep.” she said. “I’ve complained to the TPA, but they don’t listen.”

No aircraft are permitted to operate out of the Island Airport after 11 p.m. and before 6:45a.m., except for emergency flights.

City Councillor Pam McConnell pointed to the night of January 3, when four Porter flights took off after curfew. She told the TPA’s Airport Manager Ken Lundy “You’re thumbing your nose at the community.”

When TPA CEO Geoff Wilson responded that they didn’t know how to stop Porter’s breaches, Councillor Adam Vaughan responded with a practical solution: “Park your fire truck in the middle of the runway . That’ll stop them.”

Wilson replied “We’ll consider it.”