PDK air quality and noise study finds negligible health risk, modest emissions uptick tied to longer taxiing

Consultants from HMMH and CDM Smith presented the results of a two‑year air quality and noise study for PDK (DeKalb‑Peachtree Airport). The study used 2018 as a baseline and evaluated 2040 scenarios with and without implementation of the airport master plan, modeling emissions, dispersion, noise metrics and supplemental human‑health and property‑value assessments.

Gene Rindell of Harris, Miller, Miller & Hanson (HMMH) said the study looked at aircraft operations by weight categories and compared the cumulative effect of master‑plan projects against a no‑master‑plan forecast. He said taxi times were estimated to increase about 14% in the modeled scenarios; those increases produced marginal rises in emissions because of longer ground movements. “We determined about a 14% overall increase in taxi times,” Rindell said.

CDM Smith’s Gwen Pelletier described the supplemental assessments. She said modeled human‑health risks tied to aircraft emissions were negligible in the evaluated 2040 scenarios and that the incremental concentrations were generally less than 2% of relevant air‑quality standards. “By negligible, we basically meaning the increase was very minor … the increase is less than 2% of each of the NACs,” Pelletier said.

The consultants also reported that the projected change in noise metrics between scenarios was essentially unchanged; they estimated any effect on property values would likely be under roughly $1,000 per unit. Commissioners asked technical questions about baseline selection (2018), modeling assumptions, exposure timeframes and whether electrification or advanced air mobility (eVTOL) was considered; the consultants said the study followed the scope set out with FAA and EPA input and that some future work—such as advanced air mobility planning—could be considered separately.

Provenance: presentation introduced at SEG 671; Q&A and concluding remarks continue through SEG 1250.