Administrative Information

Access Restrictions

Collection is open to research.

Use Restrictions

There are no restrictions.

Preferred Citation

Virginians for Dulles records, Collection #C0025, Special Collections and Archives, George Mason University.

Acquisition Information

Collection donated by Clive L. DuVal in 1990.

Processing Information

Processed by Special Collections and Archives staff. EAD markup completed by Eron Ackerman and Jordan Patty in March 2009. Finding aid revision completed by Eron Ackerman in October 2009.

Historical Information

Virginians for Dulles (VFD) was a citizen action group established in 1968 to reduce airport nuisances for northern Virginia citizens--including noise and air pollution--by rerouting airline traffic from Washington National Airport in Arlington County, Virginia to Dulles International Airport in Loudoun County, Virginia. VFD board leaders inluded S. H. Rasmussen and former Virginia Senator Clive DuVal, 2nd. Through the 1970s and early 1980s, VFD campaigned to curb airline activities at Washington National by altering flight patterns, restricting night flights, and banning excessively noisy stretch-jets. In addition to corresponding with politicians, airport authorities, and other citizens action groups, VFD initiated a legal battle against National Airport authorities that would last for nearly a decade.

In 1970 VFD filed a class-action law suit against Washington National Airport, seeking declaratory and injunctive relief to assure Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) compliance with the noise- and air-pollution abatement measures stipulated under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969. The defendants included Secretary of Transportation John Volpe, the head of the FAA, the Director of Airport Services, and eleven major airlines. On May 30, 1972 the District Court ruled to dismiss the plaintiff's action and complaint, contending that the evidence failed to establish a direct link between aircraft noise and the health and property values of local residents and, furthermore, that the plaintiff could not claim to represent the class of citizens constituting the broader population of northern Virginia, on behalf of which VFD filed the suit.

Shortly thereafter, VFD appealed the decision to the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, and on June 2, 1976 the Appeals Court upheld the District Court opinion but added an order that the FAA prepare an environmental impact statement (EIS) documenting the compliance of Washington National Airport and Dulles International Airport with NEPA standards. On August 15, 1979, after the FAA failed to file an environmental impact statement by the stipulated date, VFD filed a motion to hold the Administrator of the FAA in civil contempt. In exchange for withdrawal of the plaintiff's motion for appeal, the defendants agreed to prepare a draft and final EIS and notice of proposed rule making, which was included in a court order issued on September 26, 1979. The defendants filed a notice of compliance with the court order on February 1, 1980 and the motion was withdrawn.

In 1983 Virginians for Dulles changed their name to Greater Washington Citizens for Dulles (GWCD) and continued to pursue litigation against Washington National Airport on other legal grounds, such as airline safety, antitrust, and actions constituting a taking of property. The records included in this collection end in 1984 when GWCD appears to have ceased its activities and disbanded.

Scope and Content

The collection contains minutes and meeting agenda; correspondence between Virginians for Dulles (VFD) board members, lawyers, politicians, and airline officials; legal briefs from civil suits filed by VFD against the Federal Aviation Administration and Washington National Airport; audiotapes; and various financial and administrative documents of VFD. Also included are newsclippings, plans for Metropolitan Washington-area airport policy and reports on environmental impact, pamphlets and memoranda from various citizens action groups concerned with aircraft noise and pollution, Federal Aviation Administration newsletters and press releases, and transcripts of testimony before the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Aviation Subcommittee of the US House Committee on Public Works and Transportation.

Series 1: Subject Files contains correspondence, pamphlets, newsclippings, and memoranda pertaining to the activities of Virginians for Dulles and their later title, Greater Washington Citizens for Dulles (GWCD). The series also contains documents deriving from other citizen groups committed to mitigating aircraft noise, traffic, and pollution in the metropolitan Washington region. These groups include the Bellvue Forest Citizens' Association, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments' Committee Against National, the Washington Area Coalition on Airport Problems (CAP), and the Potomac Valley League.

Series 2: Court Proceedings contains trial notes and transcripts, legal briefs, memoranda, testimony, and correspondence pertaining to civil suits filed against Washington National Airport and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) by Virginians for Dulles (VFD) and other like-minded groups in the Metropolitan Washington region. Documents pertaining to the class-action suit against Washington National Airport, Virginians for Dulles v. John Volpe, et al. (1970-1972), and subsequent appeals comprise the bulk of materials in the series. Other documents include copies of proceedings from the Board of Supervisors of Fairfax County, Virginia v. John McLucas (1976); Northwest Airlines, Inc. v. Neil E. Goldschmidt (1980-1981); and the City of Alexandria v. J. Lynn Helms (1983).

Series 3: Legal Reference contains notes, correspondence, and supplementary reference materials gathered by Virginians for Dulles board members and their lawyers to support litigation strategies against Washington National Airport and the FAA. Whereas the materials in Series 2 pertain either to civil cases directly involving Virginians for Dulles or to cases initiated by other plaintiffs in the same timeframe and geographic locale, the materials in Series 3 consist largely of facsimilies of older cases decided by precedents considered by VFD lawyers as prospective bases of litigation during the early 1980s. In addition to copies of cases, this series includes correspondence and notes referring to prior VFD litigation against Washington National Airport.

Series 4: Reports and Comments contains reports on airport policies and procedures; informational pamphlets; detailed studies on aircraft noise and emmissions; comments by Virginians for Dulles and others on FAA policy proposals; and transcripts of hearings before the Civil Aeronautics Board and the Aviation Subcommittee of the US House Committee on Public Works and Transportation. Prominent documents in this series include several draft environmental impact statements (DEIS) and policy proposals for Washington National and Dulles International Airports prepared by the FAA and published by the United States Department of Transportation, as well as dozens of comments on these reports by Virginians for Dulles and other citizens action groups.

Series 5: Newsclippings and Magazines contains newspaper articles along with a few magazines and pamphlets pertaining to airport problems and policies, especially Washington National Airport and its impact on the community. Most of the Newsclippings come from the Washington Post, but the series also includes clippings from the New York Times, the Northern Virginia Sun, and the Potomac Current. Other newsclippings gathered by Virginians for Dulles can be found in Series 1: Subject Files, some of which were included with correspondence between VFD board members and their lawyers.

Series 6: Audiotapes contains 6 reel-to-reel tapes. One is a 7 1/2 IPS NASA Special Report from April-May 1972, titled "Jet Noise!... What's Being Done About It?" Two are 1 7/8 IPS tapes dated June 6, 1972 and labeled Dr. Custer and Dr. Gordon. The other three tapes are unlabeled.

Series 7, Oversize, contains oversize airport plans.

Arrangement

This collection is organized into seven series, and each series is arranged alphabetically by subject.

Related Material

Special Collections and Archives also holds many other collections on transportation as well as the papers of Virginia Senator Cive DuVal, 2nd, who served as head of Virginians for Dulles.

Index Terms

Persons:

• DuVal, Clive L., 2nd, (Clive Livingston), 1912-2002.

Corporate Names:

• Dulles International Airport.
• Greater Washington Citizens for Dulles.
• United States. Federal Aviation Administration.
• Virginians for Dulles.
• Washington National Airport.

Subjects:

• Noise pollution--Virginia, Northern.
• Political participation--Virginia, Northern.

Adjunct Descriptive Data