Montrealers exasperated by the incessant noise of planes at Montreal-Trudeau airport denounce that they have to lock themselves up at home, because of the volume which exceeds public health standards.
“It’s unpleasant, we no longer hear each other speak. On Sundays, when we go to the park with the children, it passes by two minutes above our heads, sighs Jean-François Normand, who has lived in the Villeray district for 15 years.
He maintains that the volume and frequency of planes increases year by year with air traffic, until it becomes unsustainable.
One day, he measured the sound level with his phone in his yard: 80 decibels, the equivalent of the sound of an alarm clock, a factory or a busy restaurant.
To avoid headaches, the father of the family confines himself indoors in the summer, with the doors and windows closed.
Works
The Villeray district may be located more than 15 km from Montreal-Trudeau airport, but it is in line with the southern runway.
Until June 23, a large part of the planes will be redirected to this runway due to the continuation of work on the north runway, announced Aéroports de Montréal (ADM).
But for a citizen group mobilized since 2012 against noise pollution, the problem goes far beyond one-off works.
Photo Pierre-Paul Poulin
Les Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau have installed community measurement stations at various locations in Montreal.
“It never stops. It’s non-stop. Either they demolish, or they build”, is indignant the founder of Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau, Antoine Bécotte.
The group has installed ten community noise measurement stations in Montreal, including some in Ahuntsic, Villeray and Saint-Michel, places aligned with the runways, but where ADM does not have a station.
The data collected shows that the noise generated by aircraft sometimes reaches peaks of 70 decibels, and even 85 decibels in some places.
Beyond the standards
The World Health Organization (WHO) recommends that noise from air traffic should not exceed an average of 45 decibels during the day and 40 decibels at night.
“It’s an average. The events in real life are much more disturbing. […] The noise comes out of the ambient noise, it is very recognizable”, underlines Mathieu Gauthier, scientific adviser at the Institute of public health of Quebec.
“Sound levels can have several effects on health, such as cardiovascular disease, sleep disruption, a decrease in quality of life,” explains Louis-François Tétreault, expert at the Montreal Regional Public Health Department.
In an email, Aéroports de Montréal indicates that it is “too early” to make an assessment of the complaints related to the work on the north runway.
The spokesperson, Eric Forest, does not want to comment further insofar as a collective action of the Pollués de Montréal-Trudeau on the subject has not yet been heard.