Statement from Mayor Rhodes-Conway re: F-35 Environmental Impact Statement
Tuesday, September 17, 2019 – 1:51pm
“There has been substantial discussion and controversy over the potential siting of F-35 jets at the Truax Field. This matter needs careful consideration. Madison has lived with, and benefited from, the Dane County Airport and the Truax Air National Guard Base for decades. Members of the 115th wing are members of our community. They have jobs here, raise their families here, and go to school here in addition to serving in the Air National Guard.
The decision to site F-35s in Madison or anywhere else will be made by the Secretary of the Air Force. In my view, the City’s role is to make sure our community has the best possible information about this project, and to ensure that the decision-making process includes accurate information about our community. This is why we conducted a City analysis of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), which can be found here.
I am very disappointed in the U.S. Air Force and the Air National Guard’s failure to provide adequate information about this project and its potential impacts on our community, and their failure to address misconceptions on the record. The draft EIS says that flights may increase by 27%, which suggests more noise. The sound study says these new, more powerful planes would only engage in afterburner takeoffs 5% of the time (rather than 60%), which suggests less noise. The Air Force’s use of the Day Night Average Sound Level (DNL) metric suggests more noise, yet their Sound Exposure Level (SEL) chart indicates little change at the locations of most concern to the community.”
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