Montreal residents take legal action against airport noise pollution

A new citizens group is planning to filea class-action suit in an attempt to enforce a strict curfew on flightsinto and out of Montreal's Pierre Elliott Trudeau Airport.

CalledLes Pollus de Montral-Trudeau, or the Polluted of Montreal-Trudeau, the group represents residents fromDorvalto Saint-Michel andAhuntsic who saynoise from flights passing overheadis keeping them awake at night and affecting their quality of life.

The group is asking for a flight curfew to be set from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. to reduce noise levels.

Group memberMichel Dion has lived11 kilometresfrom the airportin Ahuntsicsince 1980.

"When I'm at home I live in my house with the windows closed. I had air-conditioning installed and I no longer go outside," Diontold CBC News.

He says he can't sleep with the windows open.

"One or two airplanes during the night is enough to wake you up."

Pierre Duquette is a doctor who lived in the affected area for three decades before moving because of the noise levels.

"I lived in [Ahuntsic]for 30 years and when I came, the first year was not too bad, but it progressively got worse. It starts at a quarter before six and ends at1:30 a.m.And it's constant, it's all day," he said.

"In the end, I decided to move away because it was intolerable. It disrupts your sleep, you cannot eat outside... every five minutes you're interrupted by a plane."

Thegroup claims to have recorded noise spikes of up to 85 decibels in residential areas of Montreal.

These measurements were taken from 10stations installed by the group.

According to the World Health Organization, people should not be exposed to more than55 decibels.

The Canadian standard is 65 decibels.

Group's findings disputed

Montreal's airport authoritydisputes the group's findings, sayingthere are various factors to consider wheninterpreting noise leveldata.

According to AroportsdeMontral'sown findings, the highest noise levelin 2015 was 63 decibels recorded in Dorval.

In its annual report, the authority said there were232,648 aircraft movementsin 2015, or an average of 637 per day.

There is, however, no curfew for small aircraftusing the airport, and a 1 a.m. curfew is already in place for airliners.

Grard Samet, the lawyer representing the citizensgroup, said the goal of a class-action suit is not to limit traffic, but rather to force the airport authority and Nav Canada to enforce a curfew and considernew flight pathsto the airport that don't have planes flying low for long distances over populated areas.

CBC is awaiting a response from Montreal's airport authority.