HAZLETON, LUZERNE COUNTY (WBRE/WYOU) — People who live near the Hazleton Municipal Airport say their quality of life has been turned upside down all because of the removal of a green space area between their homes and the airport runway.

They claim their concerns are not being heard, so they reached out to the I-team for help.

Eyewitness News was standing in the backyard of a home in the Calbeth Circle Neighborhood of Hazle Township, where the runway was about 200 yards away.

There is now a brown area where trees and other vegetation had been.

It was cleared out over the last month or so and people here that clearing the green space is causing all kinds of problems.

This is what residents of Calbeth Circle day they are dealing with almost every day. They all tell similar stories.

They built homes in this area about 30 years ago. There was a green space with lots of big trees separating their property and the airport, but they say, without warning, the trees were cleared out.

“So ever since the winds have gotten a lot worse, the fines have gotten worse, the noise is terrible and there is no protection whatsoever,” said Hazle Township resident Al Onuschak.

“All the trees that are over there are all gone. We have no barrier whatsoever from the wind. We have nothing from the smell. I think that it took away from the value of my property,” Dennis Balliet of Hazle Township explained.

These neighbors say they have sustained property damage.. mainly from the winds toppling trees that were not cut down.

“Luckily, I have dogs, when those trees came down, they didn’t hit any of our dogs. They would have been crushed. It cost me $3,000 dollars for the trees that they left,” said Hazle Township resident Mark Scarcella.

The city owns the airport and hired a contractor to remove the trees and other vegetation.

They say they were operating under a directive from the FAA-Federal Aviation Administration, which oversees airports. Joe Zeller is the Airport Director.

“I feel very badly for the situation you know it’s not something that we look forward to taking these trees down. Maybe they could be done remedy were waiting for guidance from the Bureau of Aviation the FAA,” said Zeller.

These residents know what they’d like to see.

“But we need a barrier at least of some sort to protect us a little,” said Onuschak.

Eyewitness News reached out to the FAA, A spokesperson emailed us and said they would release a statement to the I-Team about the situation. We have not heard back as of yet.