Judge says: Airport noise level lawsuit will stay alive

On March 28, Judge Stephen C. Aldrich issued an order in favor of area homeowners, denying the Metropolitan Airports Commission’s (MAC) Motion to Dismiss, setting the stage for additional discovery and a trial. The airport noise case, brought on behalf of homeowners living near the airport, seeks enforcement of the MAC’s promise to provide full noise remedies within the varying noise levels homeowners living in the area experience.

In recent years, the MAC has denied making any type of commitment for noise remedies to area homeowners. It has also strongly opposed all homeowners’ efforts to obtain relief. However, during the preliminary discovery process, attorneys for homeowners have found numerous documents that show otherwise and have provided them to the court. Bob Moilanen, an attorney for the homeowners, said, “This decision is a step in the right direction to assure that the MAC finally takes responsibility for what it promised. Once we prove the commitment that was made to the homeowners, the MAC will be required to make good on that commitment.”

The judge’s order also notes that a three-week trial is set to begin Feb. 12, 2007, and that parts of the case will be tried as early as August 2006.