By Kevin Aldridge
The Cincinnati Enquirer

DELHI TOWNSHIP - Officials with the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport said Thursday they have no intention of breaching their noise agreements with the Sisters of Charity and Delhi Township because of possible airport expansion.

Noise consultants hired by the airport presented findings that project more passenger and cargo flights would be using the airport's north-south runways by 2010. The jump in air traffic could increase daily average noise levels above 65 decibels and extend noise boundaries north into Delhi Township.

Those noise levels, if unchanged, would violate a deal the airport struck with the Sisters of Charity and the township ensuring that daily noise levels would not exceed 62 decibels. Under the agreement, if noise exceeds that limit, the Sisters of Charity or the township could sue the airport.

"We're going to make sure that doesn't happen," said Max Wolfe of the consulting group Landrum & Brown. "Don't let these forecasts spook you, because we haven't yet started looking at ways to reduce the noise."

More than 50 residents of Delhi Township turned out Thursday for a public workshop to discuss the prospects of more noise.

Tom and Terry McNamara said they probably couldn't tolerate much more noise. Planes already fly over their home constantly, the couple said.

"You don't get any sleep at night now because of it," said Terry McNamara, 43. "How can you fight them? You can't fight them. The only option we have left is to move."

The Sisters of Charity's motherhouse is in Delhi Township, along with the College of Mount St. Joseph, which the order operates. The order was able to press the airport into an agreement about 15 years ago because the motherhouse is a historic building and could have blocked airplanes from flying over it.

Wolfe said residents were being presented with scenarios of what would happen if air traffic increased 28 percent by 2010 and no changes were made at the airport.

Dale Huber, the airport's deputy aviation director, said officials are looking at ways to reroute takeoffs and shift noise contours over compatible land uses and away from residential areas. Huber said forums like Thursday's township workshop are important to get input from residents.

"A lot of people think this is one of those things where we are going to do what we want to anyway. And that's just not true," Huber said.

Airport officials are conducting an 18-month, $1.2 million study of airport noise. The study is the result of increased nighttime activity at the airport and the possibility of night flights rising even more. A new north-south runway is set to open late next year.

Jack Ryan, president of the Delhi Civic Association, said airport officials need to seriously consider the effect of the expansion on the surrounding area.

"I hear nothing but four words (from this presentation), 'It's a done deal.' " Ryan said.

E-mail kaldridge@enquirer.com