A community group in Northern Colorado is raising concerns about a bill advancing in Congress that would require general aviation airports to keep selling leaded fuel indefinitely.
Most small, general aviation aircraft continue to use leaded gasoline. The federal government has a goal to transition away from it by 2030.
But some residents living near airports want the leaded fuel gone sooner because of health concerns. And some elected officials, including some in Washington state, have started floating plans to try and force transitions sooner.
The potential mandate from Congress comes as some residents in Superior and other cities along Colorado’s Front Range have told their elected officials their children are at risk from airborne lead pollution as traffic revs up at general aviation airports.
Santa Clara County banned the sale of leaded gas at the airport following the study, and began only offering unleaded fuel.
But many in the aviation industry say the unleaded fuel that was approved last year by the Federal Aviation Administration isn’t readily available yet.
They’re also raising concerns that ending sales of leaded fuel too soon could put pilots at risk of crashing if they fuel up with the wrong kind.
Bri Lehman, of Lafayette, is a member of theSave our Skies Alliance, a Colorado organization calling for changes at general aviation airports, including an end to the use of leaded fuel because of health concerns.
Lehman said Wednesday Congress shouldn’t punish any airports for taking the step to only sell unleaded fuel.
Instead, she thinks the government should do more to speed up the transition to unleaded fuel.
“The majority of the (lead) exposure in America can now be attributed to aviation sources,” she said. “So for them to be so short-sighted, to try to guarantee, you know, another decade of profits at the expense of the health of probably millions of people is almost unbelievable to me.”
Lehman said she has a meeting scheduled with U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper’s staff on Friday to encourage the senator to try and amend the bill when it’s heard by the Senate Transportation Committee.
The leaded fuel mandate is included in a broader bill reauthorizing the Federal Aviation Administration.
U.S. Rep. Joe Neguse, D-Lafayette, said last month he offered eight amendments to the bill all aiming to help residents address noise and pollution from nearby airports.
One amendment would have “promoted collaboration between the Department of Transportation, the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and NASA to develop innovative technologies to increase the use of unleaded aviation fuel and reduce aircraft noise.”
But Neguse said that proposal and all but one of his others were rejected by the Republican-controlled Rules Committee.
“No one should have to suffer the consequences of undue noise or environmental pollution, which is why I am disappointed that most of these amendments were improperly ruled out of order by House Republicans,” Neguse said in a statement.
Colorado’s airports have responded to concerns about lead pollution differently.
In May, Centennial Airport became the first in the state to start selling an unleaded alternative.
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport near Broomfield hasn’t yet.
Airport Director Paul Anslow told KUNC in March he’s skeptical of claims that general aviation aircraft are causing lead pollution. He suggested lead being detected at homes near the airport could be coming from somewhere else.
“It's not proven that (the lead) is coming from the planes,” he said during a tour of the airport for elected officials. “We drove leaded cars from the 1920s until the 1970s. That lead doesn't go away."
He added he doesn’t have the power to switch to unleaded fuel under FAA regulations.
Superior’s town board sent the airport a letter this spring calling on it to phase out leaded fuel sales as quickly as possible.
“Removing the largest lead air pollution source is essential to the health and well-being of our community,” the trustees wrote.
Jefferson County, which operates the airport, responded that they support the transition to unleaded. But they didn’t offer a specific timeline.
“The last remaining hurdle towards the complete transition to unleaded avgas is the aviation and petroleum industries’ ability to scale the production of these alternative fuels to achieve a market-ready and price competitive supply,” county officials wrote.
