Denver International Airport recorded only one serious aircraft- noise violation in 2005, the lowest number of annual noise violations in the airport’s 11-year history.
Under a 1988 agreement, Denver bears the liability of paying Adams County and some of its cities $500,000 for each serious noise violation. In 2000, DIA recorded 24 serious violations, carrying a $12 million liability. To date, Denver has paid Adams and its cities more than $40 million in noise penalties.
The reduction to one violation last year “is very encouraging to see,” said DIA noise abatement officer Mike McKee. The single violation in 2005 was registered at a site near Buckley Air Force Base in Aurora, but it only relates to air traffic from DIA.
Airport noise monitoring is based on a computerized system that looks at aircraft radar tracks over a year’s period. McKee said the violation at the Buckley site only barely exceeded a noise limit at that location set by the Adams-Denver agreement.
