Keep the Curfew at March!

I am in 100\% agreement with this editorial that appeared on August 04, 2004 in the Riverside Press Enterprise.

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By CATHERINE BARRETT-FISCHER

Thank you for your editorial ("Let March fly," July 31) about night flights at March Inland Port Airport. We want to mitigate the negative impacts of the cargo port by having the March Joint Powers Commission honor the good-neighbor curfew that the Air Force promised the neighbors in 1992. That means no flights between 11 p.m. and 7 a.m. We realize that the military needs the freedom to operate 24-7 and we fully support the military at March.

We also fully support public safety flights at March 24-7. We are asking for a curfew for nonmilitary-use commercial planes only.

You mentioned that we are concerned about noise, which is absolutely true because night flights affect our health. Night flights are proven to disrupt sleep, increase heart rates and lead to depression, stress and hypertension. They also impact work-related performance, learning and academic performance. A decent night's sleep is a basic human right. We are largely a region of commuters. Given that "You are just as dangerous driving sleepy as you are driving drunk," it would be very dangerous indeed to deprive our neighbors of their sleep.

Researchers have also found that long-term memory, reading and speech perception had been harmed in children who were exposed to noise at a new airport.

Meanwhile, the most significant emissions from commercial jet aircraft are volatile organic compounds (VOCs), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx), particulates (PM) and sulfur dioxide (SO2). These pollutants cause asthma, lung damage, heart disease, cancer and death as well as damage to animals and our natural environment.

The pollution levels from one 747 on takeoff are somewhat similar to setting the local gas station on fire and flying it overhead. Given that we have the worst particulate pollution in the U.S. in western Riverside County - fourth in the world after Jakarta, Indonesia; Calcutta, India; and Bangkok, Thailand - we cannot afford to add more poison to our community while we are trying to sleep at night.

March Inland Port Airport can be a thriving commercial center if it recruits international carriers that will operate during the normal business hours of 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. as those hours fit in with the carriers' international schedules. This will also fit with the economic development strategy of the much-improved March Business Center, which will now be a model for Southern California.

Our alliance has modified its position from absolute opposition to a cargo port at March to support for a cargo port with a curfew, as we realize the importance of a joint-use facility to keep March Air Reserve Base off the upcoming BRAC list.

A closure of March ARB would be devastating to the area both economically and strategically for our military.

We are working toward a win-win solution for the residents, the military and the cargo port.

Catherine Barrett-Fischer is executive committee chairwoman for the Community Alliance for Riverside's Economy and Environment (CAREE).