FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Focus: Tamworth spokesperson:

Charles Greenhalgh  603 356-5439 x516 

Cell: 603 321-6615 

Home: 603 323-3908

If unavailable:
Kate Vachon, press coordinator: 603 323 8224
focus@focustamworth.org

Focus: Tamworth stands by original sound assessment

Group believes noise levels in town will be objectionable without mitigation measures

TAMWORTH, NH, July 5 -- Focus: Tamworth stands by its assertion that the noise produced by the proposed Club Motorsports Inc (CMI) racetrack on the north slope of Mt Whittier will have a strongly negative impact on the town unless CMI incorporates significant sound abatement measures into its track design.

The summer 2003 study conducted by Dr.Chris Menge of Harris Miller Miller and Hanson (HMMH) sound engineers of Burlington, MA was done for the Town of Tamworth and financed by the Tamworth Foundation. CMI representatives offered to pay half the estimated $20,000 cost, then interviewed and approved Dr. Menge before he was retained.

CMI identified a BMW Club of America event at the Loudon, NH International Speedway’s driving course as representative of the kind of event their track was designed to host, and arranged access for Dr. Menge to take measurements. Dr. Menge also measured typical ambient noise at several Tamworth locations, including the K. A. Brett School and St. Andrews-in-the-Valley Episcopal Church, and calculated how much the noise from the track would raise that level.

The study indicated that, without significant mitigation like earthen berms or high sound barriers, the noise at some locations would be great enough to trigger complaints and even lawsuits.

CMI was supportive of the study until a final presentation showed that the racetrack’s noise was likely to produce decibel levels that would be objectionable in many parts of town. After the noise study’s results were made public, CMI refused to send the Tamworth Foundation the $10,000 it had offered, and is now trying to discredit the study. According to a CMI press release, a new study by Tech Environmental of Waltham, MA shows minimal noise impact.

The CMI press release did not indicate what decibel levels the Tech Environmental study predicted for noise from the track.

A copy of the study was mailed to the Tamworth Town Office and arrived on Thursday, July 1. The Town Office is closed on Fridays and Mondays.

“It will be interesting to see what noise levels the Tech Environmental study predicts at the property boundary,” said Charles Greenhalgh, Focus: Tamworth spokesperson. “The Tamworth Racetrack Ordinance set a limit of 69 decibels, and we are convinced that anything higher than that will be very bad for Tamworth.” 

Construction has not yet started on the CMI track, which is still waiting for the major federal, state and local permits it needs.

Focus: Tamworth is a coalition of local residents who support careful and fair regulations that protect Tamworth’s economic and natural resources. More information on Focus: Tamworth is available at www.focustamworth.org.

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