Passage residents have been requesting an updated noise study since trees were removed from the neighborhood in October 2005. They say that airport noise was not a problem prior to the deforestation. ?EUR??,,????'??The concerns only arose when the trees came down,?EUR??,,????'?? Westerly Town Councilor Christopher Duhamel said.

The last airport noise study was conducted in 1986.

John Silva, a noise expert with the FAA, said the trees that were cut down were not abating airport noise. He argued that the airplanes only seemed louder after the trees?EUR??,,????'??? removal because residents could see them. He said that it would take 300 feet of densely packed evergreens to produce a noise reduction of 3 decibels.

However, some residents call that explanation ?EUR??,,????'??bologna.?EUR??,,????'??

Brenda Pope, a vice president for the airport operator, said the FAA agreed to fund 80 percent of the noise study. ?EUR??,,????'??This was never a landscaping plan. It was a habitat restoration plan,?EUR??,,????'?? said Pope. However, she agreed to look into removing dead vegetation and continuing with replanting.

Source: The Connecticut Day