OVERHEAD FLIGHTS TO INCREASE

March 24, 2000 -- News that Reagan National may allow additional daily flights will not please Palisades residents.
Although there is not enough time to make a convincing argument now against the additional flights, we do plan to meet with airport officials early in the summer.
By that time, we will be armed with hundreds of decibel meter readings from the Palisades which are high enough--over 70--to prove that existing FAA regulations are not being followed by all flights, thus making a strong case for better enforcement.
Last fall, we learned that high decibel readings equate with high humidity levels.
Late spring, when the humidity is up, offers the next opportunity to add to the more than 100 readings over 70 decibels collected last fall.
For those who have not used the decibel meter a reading of 70 or above means that it is impossible for two people seated three to four feet apart outdoors to hold a conversation without shouting.
We know that airport officials are accustomed to complaints; our strategy is to approach them only when we have collected a massive amount of hard evidence proving that their own regulations are being flaunted.
If the strategy results in better enforcement, decibel readings for most flights should fall into the 60s, which is low enough to permit conversation outdoors.
--David Gries, PCA liaison to CAAN (Citizens for the Abatement of Aircraft Noise)

CANAL ODORS HAVE PCA AND
ELEVEN MARYLAND HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATIONS FUMING

March 24, 2000 -- Excerpts from a February 28 letter to Ron M. Linton, chairman DC Water and Sewer Authority. The letter is signed by the presidents of eleven Maryland citizens/homeowners associations, plus the PCA.

For the past 30 years, there has frequently been a distinctly unpleasant odor along the C&O Canal between Great Falls, MD and Georgetown. Many residents have assumed that the smell comes from the Canal itself.
Instead, the smell is the result of improperly maintained sewer vents along the Potomac Interceptor ("PI") Sewer, which runs along the Potomac River from Dulles International Airport to the Blue Plains Wastewater Treatment Facility.
The PI was designed, constructed by, and is owned and maintained by the DC Water and Sewer Authority (WASA).
[We] ask that WASA recognize the unpleasant impact that the sewer gas (hydrogen sulfide) has on Canal visitors and residents of nearby communities, and that you eliminate the smell problem fully and permanently...
The Potomac Interceptor "intercepts" solid waste from communities in Loudoun, Fairfax, and Montgomery counties and transports it for treatment at Blue Plains. We understand that the sewer design provided for air vents along the entire length of the system to prolong the life of the PI pipes, and that the filters on these vents were to be changed periodically.
It seems clear at this point that the design of the vents is flawed since the filters fit inside the vent structures, which are topped with massive, 600-pound concrete slabs, thus making filter maintenance extremely cumbersome...
Consequently, the filters haven't been changed in about 30 years... The hydrogen sulfide is considered a hazardous gas by both EPA and Maryland and we would hope that WASA would recognize the health concerns of the surrounding communities, in addition to the smell nuisance issue.
Additionally, the Montgomery and Fairfax counties pay millions of dollars each year to WASA to properly transport and treat sewage, and yet WASA seems unwilling to spend an adequate portion of these moneys to properly maintain the PI....
The emission of the hydrogen sulfide and other sewer gases should be eliminated.