Residents say aircraft noise from Centennial Airport has ‘gotten worse’

BY TAYLER SHAW TSHAW@COLORADOCOMMUNITYMEDIA.COM

Despite months of raising concerns about aircraft ying over residential areas surrounding Centennial Airport, residents say the issue of frequent tra c and noise persist.

“I’ve been attending these meetings for the last, feels like close to a year. And I have to say, it hasn’t gotten better. It’s gotten worse,” said Amy Friedman, who lives in unincorporated Arapahoe County.

She was among 11 residents who spoke during the Aug. 2 Centennial Airport Community Noise Roundtable meeting.

e roundtable — made up of local elected o cials from Arapahoe and Douglas counties, appointed community representatives, airport sta , and others — is meant to work with the airport to nd ways to reduce and mitigate the impact of aircraft noise, according to its website.

Although residents expressed frustration, members of the roundtable said progress has been made.

e Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recently joined a subgroup that involves Centennial Airport leaders and ight schools to address community concerns.

“ at’s really positive progress,” said Centennial Airport Executive Director and CEO Mike Fronapfel. “We’re one of only a handful of airports in the country where the … FAA has come around and gone down this path, with setting up a technical committee to address some of the noise concerns.”

Fronapfel encouraged community members to o er comments on the FAA’s noise policy review, given that the FAA extended the deadline for public comment to Sept. 29. ose interested in learning more can visit faa.gov/noisepolicyreview.

Residents voice concerns, frustration Centennial Airport, located in Arapahoe County near Dove Valley Regional Park, is one of the 25 busiest airports in the nation, according to the FAA.

For months, residents have been attending meetings to raise concerns about increased air tra c, noise and lead pollution impacting the community, speci cally those living north of Arapahoe Road.

One of the main sources of noise complaints is training aircraft, as residents have described training planes ying loops over their homes.

In the pursuit of relief, two resident groups have formed — Quiet Skies Over Arapahoe County, which advocates for changes, and Safe Skies Colorado, which is pursuing legal action.

At the Aug. 2 meeting, Lisa Mauvais, of Arapahoe County, shared examples of when aircraft have trav- eled north of Arapahoe Road, showing visuals of how frequently planes y loops over residential areas.

Mindy Davine, who lives in Greenwood Village, said she is tired of getting woken up by aircraft noise at 5 a.m. and hearing aircraft again at 10 p.m.

“We keep repeating the same thing over and over and over again,” Davine said to the roundtable. “It’s been almost a year, and nothing has changed. It’s gotten worse.”

Mike Koscielniak, from Castle Rock, said he is a pilot and part of the Colorado Pilots Association. He said he has attended the last few meetings and has been writing to the board of directors about them.

“We’re aware of what’s going on. And I feel your pain,” he told attendees.

He said he would like to see more pilots and ight school representation at the meetings.

“ ere should be more engagement of the pilot community with the residents,” he said. “I know we’re trying to get the board to do stu , but they can’t do it unless they get the cooperation from the pilots.”

Residents continued to raise concerns about lead pollution, given that aviation gasoline is the fuel most commonly used in piston-engine aircraft and is the only transportation fuel in the U.S. to contain lead, according to the FAA.

In October 2022, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed an endangerment nding for lead emissions from aircraft engines that operate on leaded fuel.

“When it comes to our children the science is clear, exposure to lead can cause irreversible and life-long health e ects,” said EPA Administrator Michael Regan in a news release. “Aircraft that use leaded fuel are the dominant source of lead emissions to air in the country.”

According to the news release, the EPA’s consideration of endangerment is “a rst step toward application of EPA’s authority to address lead pollution.”

Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser signed a letter July 18 urging the EPA to adopt the proposed nding.

“ e proposed nding is one important and necessary step towards addressing this problem and protecting adults and children most at risk from lead exposure due to avgas (aviation gasoline),” he wrote.

Earlier this year, Centennial Airport became the rst in Colorado to o er unleaded aviation gasoline.

For the month of May, unleaded fuel made up 15% of the airport’s overall aviation gasoline sales, said Centennial Airport Executive Director and CEO Mike Fronapfel. In the month of June, it made up 20% of overall sales, he said.

“We’re hoping that we continue to see that progress,” he said.

FAA joins group with Centennial Airport users, leaders

Months after requesting the FAA get involved in a sub-roundtable technical working group to work with airport leaders on addressing community concerns, o cials said the FAA is now participating.

Fronapfel said he is really excited that the FAA is nally at the table.

In March, Fronapfel asked the noise roundtable to form a subroundtable technical working group to explore and recommend solutions to the issues caused by the extended training pattern tra c.

Fronapfel said he and Brad Pierce, the chair of the noise roundtable, sent an email Feb. 14 requesting the FAA participate in the working group.

During that March meeting, members of the noise roundtable approved a motion to form the technical working group as a subcommittee of the noise roundtable.

In May, airport leaders announced they would hire a lobbying and advocacy rm, e Normandy Group. Louis Dupart, founding partner of e Normandy Group, spoke at the June noise roundtable meeting and said he was working to get the FAA to join the technical working group.

Pierce said during the Aug. 2 meeting that the FAA has joined the group, which has been renamed and is now called the Centennial Airport Community Noise Roundtable Study Group Committee.

e study group committee is made up of some members of the noise roundtable, Arapahoe County Commissioner Jessica CampbellSwanson, the ight schools and the FAA, Pierce said.

“We have, I think, everybody there that has the authority and the determination and dedication to solving, or at least looking at solving, the problem,” he said.