Down to a dull roar, for now

Even as Massport officials this month touted the early success of Logan International Airport's newest runway in cutting flight delays, residents in East Boston say the verdict is still out on how much noise and pollution the runway will add to the neighborhood.

After 30 years of opposition and legal battles, Runway 14/32 (named for its compass headings minus the last 0) opened Nov. 23 to surprisingly muted public reaction. The 5,000-foot runway serves primarily small regional jets, turboprop and private planes, and will handle some additional traffic when northwest winds prevent the use of other runways.

Cynthia Grubbs said she flies from Logan at least once a week for work and enjoys the convenience of living five minutes from the airport, but said the tradeoff is noise, a fact of life that has been made more bothersome by the new runway.

"We have a tremendous amount of noisy little planes now," said Grubbs, who calls them "really annoying."

"Summertime is going to be tough."

Though large jets going over East Boston are louder, she said, the engine noise lasts three or four seconds, while smaller planes take longer to clear the area and often fly at lower altitudes. "It's almost like they're buzzing us," she said.

The small planes seem to use different flight paths over the neighborhood than large jets, said Grubbs, who is familiar with departure and arrival routes.

"It's a very unpredictable spattering of noise. I feel like they're closer to me. It feels very claustrophobic."

"The noise is noticeable even if the windows are closed," said Mary Ellen Welch, a longtime activist who first opposed Logan Airport expansion plans in the 1960s. The biggest problem isn't simply the new runway operations, Welch said, but that air traffic on runway 14/32 is often accompanied by, because of weather conditions, increased traffic on departure runways 27 or 33 bringing more aircraft -- and noise -- to densely populated surrounding neighborhoods. "I think we're going to have to see it for a longer period of time," she said.

"One month's data doesn't tell you anything," said Richard Walsh, a Massport spokesman. "I'd give it six months." Walsh said that, so far, only five noise complaints about the new runway have come in, all from Quincy.

Though Debra Cave of East Boston is not sure if runway 14/32 is to blame, she said she's noticed the smell of exhaust more frequently in the last few weeks.

And Nina Gaeta -- who lives atop Eagle Hill, a point so high, she said, "you can wave to the pilots coming in " -- added that "it just seems to me for the past couple of months, these planes are all over the place, crisscrossing our community."

Fran Riley, who also lives in Eagle Hill, said "it's too soon to tell" how the runway will affect those living under its flight path. Though noise is noticeable, she said, she's most concerned with the long-term health effects of pollution from airplanes over Maverick Square and Jeffries Point in East Boston and over nearby communities like Chelsea, South Boston, and Winthrop. "These fumes aren't going to go straight up in the air."

Riley said she believes the neighborhood has higher-than-normal asthma and cancer rates that may be attributable to jet pollution. She wants the state to study the matter, she said.

Riley also said she worries about how wind velocity and wind sheer may cause the smaller-size jets to crash, noting that Jeffries Point and the Hyatt Harborside hotel are right in line with the 14/32 flight path.

Noise from the new runway isn't noticeable unless you're outside, Gaeta said. She added that she is most worried about a new taxiway under construction and scheduled to open in 2009. Last summer, Gaeta said she counted 27 planes queued up one morning waiting to take off. "The taxiway will kill us all," she said. "Boston needs an airport not located in Boston."

Christina Pazzanese can be reached at cpazzanese@globe.com.