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Residents living in and near Lacey lodged the majority of complaints, and base officials have revised the air routes to avoid flying over these areas. The base tracked complaints from 130 individuals since aviators began flying the routes July 1.
Base officials say they’re confident the revised routes over less populated parts of Thurston County strike the right balance between the training and safety needs of aviators and the quality of life of residents.
They said there’s been a dramatic drop in complaints since helicopters started flying the revised routes two weeks ago. Residents living in the area also reported a notable decrease in the number of aircraft and associated noise.
“If that is our measuring stick to find out if we’ve (found the right balance), I think we’re there,” said Col. H. Charles Hodges Jr., Lewis-McChord’s new garrison commander.
Aviators also were instructed to increase their altitude to least 1,800 feet when flying near Rainier and Yelm. Hodges said the base also is studying whether helicopters can safely maneuver to training areas without having to fly outside the base.
Hodges, who started the job last month after the original routes were established, acknowledged the base should have done a better job communicating with residents before aviators began flying them.
“I think a lot of these were self-imposed problems,” he said. “If we would have communicated clearly with the community and let them know about this, it would have been easier.”
The base also might have gotten ahead of itself in another way. Hodges has ordered an environmental review of the revised air routes that wasn’t completed for the original routes, although the commander said there remains internal debate about whether the study is legally required.
“From my perspective, we need to do one just to cover all the bases,” Hodges said.
Officials began developing the air routes about a year ago when the 16th Combat Aviation Brigade and its attack, reconnaissance and transport helicopters were reassigned from Alaska and elsewhere. With the unit’s staggered arrival, the number of helicopters stationed at Lewis-McChord eventually will increase from 90 to 158. There are currently 149 helicopters at the base.
The base needs highways in the sky to get the growing number of helicopters to and from training areas in a safe and orderly fashion.
Robert Rodriguez, Lewis-McChord’s aviation division chief, said this was a difficult task because of the proximity of McChord Air Field and the Olympia and Tacoma airports.
“It’s very congested airspace, and it’s very hard from an aviation standpoint to plan your movements without impeding on someone else’s airspace,” Rodriguez said.
The presence of lakes in the Lacey area was a major reason officials originally chose that leg of the routes, he explained; lakes make it easier for aviators to find their bearings.
After residents began complaining, the previous garrison commander instructed aviators in early August to fly higher over Lacey. But the complaints continued.
“We had some people that emailed or called us and said, ‘Thank you for raising the elevation. It helps, but there’s a still a lot of helicopters flying over my house,’ ” base spokesman Joe Piek said.
Addressing these ongoing complaints was one of the first issues Hodges tackled when he came onboard Aug. 7.
Four residents who had raised concerns about the helicopter noise said they’ve noticed a significant decrease in recent weeks.
Gail James, who has lived along Long Lake for about 12 years, said she and her husband endured many nights of interrupted sleep. She thought the relief was because of deployments and the end of National Guard summer training. Told it was because of the revised routes and that the helicopter noise isn’t coming back, she was appreciative.
“You have made my day, seriously,” she told a reporter.
Hodges met with the mayors of Lacey, Rainier, Roy and Yelm last week to alert them to the changes.
“I’m very happy that the citizens made them reconsider what they had not been approved to do in the first place,” Lacey Mayor Virgil Clarkson said.
Hodges’ review not only led to the revision of the air routes but also to the decision to conduct an environmental review.
Hodges said he was advised that the original study for the arrival of the combat aviation brigade assumed the helicopters would remain in the confines of the base rather than fly off them.
“People thought when we did the initial (study) for bringing the 16th CAB here that that covered aviation operations in general,” he explained. “When you go back and start reading … the fine print of it all in terms of requirements, it says if you establish a new route, which these are, then you have to do an environmental assessment.”
The process includes a public comment period, and the document could take four months to a year to complete.
christian.hill@thenewstribune.com
