O'HARE — Judie Simpson said she knew the noise from jets using O'Hare Airport's newest runway was bad when it would wake her in the middle of the night, force her to turn up the television and just simply stop talking until the plane passed over her home, which is 10 miles from the airport.
But until Simpson got the results of a temporary noise monitor that city officials installed in her backyard for two weeks in June, she had no idea just how loud the planes traveling over her home to get to a new runway really were.
"It is much louder than they say it is," Simpson said Thursday, referring to local and federal aviation officials. "We knew the noise was bad. It just confirms what we are experiencing."
Heather Cherone says the average monitor in one home was like a vacuum cleaner running constantly:
The average noise level at night in Simpson's backyard was 73 decibels, according to the data from the monitor, which Simpson obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request. The results were released by the Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition — an organization that has been protesting the changes for more than 1½ years.
According to figures compiled by Purdue University, a typical vacuum cleaner creates 70 decibels of noise. Noise in the upper 70s can be "annoyingly loud to some people," the compilation said.
Homes that experience an average of 65 decibels of jet noise during the day and night — within areas deemed by local aviation officials as experiencing high levels of jet racket known as a noise contour — qualify for federally subsidized soundproofing, including new attic insulation, air conditioning, exterior doors, storm doors and windows that block all noise.
The federal government considers an average of 65 decibels of jet noise during the day and night "annoying."
All of the flights over Simpson's home between June 4 and June 19 caused at least 65 decibels of noise, according to the data released by the coalition. Twenty percent were pegged at 75 decibels or louder, and 7 percent caused 85 decibels of noise, according to the data released by the coalition.
"At times, the planes come one a minute," Simpson said. "I would never have bought this house nearly eight years ago if it was like this."
One flight caused 94.9 decibels of noise, which is equivalent to the sound of a jackhammer 50 feet away, the coalition said.
Jeanette Camacho, the executive director of the O'Hare Noise Compatibility Commission, which is charged with keeping tabs on the noise created by the airport, said temporary monitors like the one placed in Simpson's backyard are used for "informational purposes" only.
Simpson's home in the 5800 block of North Drake Avenue in North Park is directly below the flight path used by most of the planes approaching O'Hare, but is not within the O'Hare noise contour and does not qualify for subsidized soundproofing.
Simpson is one of many Northwest Side residents who blames the new flight patterns for lowering their property values and making it impossible for them to sleep or enjoy their yards.
"It makes me want to sell my house and leave the city," Simpson said.
Federal Aviation Administration officials are studying whether the 65-decibel requirement is too high and whether it should be changed to allow more homes to qualify for free soundproofing. While several elected officials including Mayor Rahm Emanuel and U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-Chicago), have called for that research to be expedited, it is scheduled to be completed in mid-2016.
But the O'Hare noise contour map won't be changed to reflect the new flight paths until the $6.6 billion O'Hare Modernization Plan is completed in 2020, said Chicago Aviation Department spokeswoman Karen Pride.
That could mean that Northwest Side homeowners like Simpson won't get soundproofing until 2025, members of the coalition said.
“This situation is ridiculous," said Jim Argionis, a member of the coalition's leadership team.
Even though noise monitors like the one that was in Simpson's backyard prove the noise contour map isn't big enough, city airport officials won't change the map, Argionis said.
"What’s the point of collecting data that will not cause something to change?" Argionis said. The Fair Allocation in Runways Coalition "does not accept this scenario.”
Earlier this month, FAA officials rejected calls from Quigley and two other congressmen to redo a study of how new flight paths to and from O'Hare Airport affect Northwest Side neighborhoods, saying the original study done 10 years ago was comprehensive and accurate.
Quigley said that decision was "extremely disappointing" in light of the fact that many Chicagoans were watching their "quality of life rapidly deteriorat[e]" because of the racket made by jets using the airport's new east-west runway that opened nearly a year ago.
Federal aviation officials said the flight patterns at O'Hare were designed to ensure the airport operated as efficiently and safely as possible.
The FAA is working to complete an assessment of whether more environmental studies are needed to determine the impact of a runway scheduled to open in October 2015 on noise and air pollution.
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