Fri, Oct 15, 2004
DOE Answers AOPA Questions About Los Alamos Airport Landfill
Project
The Department of Energy (DOE) has
concurred with AOPA's request that the federal agency suspend its
landfill project at Los Alamos Airport (LAM) in New Mexico. At a
high-level meeting this week between AOPA and senior DOE officials
in Washington (DC), the department committed to put the project on
hold for 90 days and to address the concerns of airport users
before proceeding with the cleanup of the old airport landfill.
"Joe McMonigle, chief of staff for Energy Secretary Spencer
Abraham, and himself a pilot and AOPA member, brought the right
parties together," said Andy Cebula, AOPA senior vice president of
Government and Technical Affairs. "And we can say that pilots'
perspectives are now being addressed."
From the late 1940s through the 1960s, Los Alamos County and
DOE's Los Alamos National Laboratory used airport property as a
landfill. The old site poses an environmental hazard and is the
subject of a long-running negotiation between DOE and the state of
New Mexico. DOE's original cleanup plan included encapsulating the
trash in a 9-foot-tall berm paralleling the runway.
LAM sits on top of a mesa, where winds can by tricky. With a
field elevation of just over 7,000 feet and a runway length of
5,550 feet, plus a requirement that pilots land on Runway 27 and
depart from Runway 9 regardless of wind conditions, there is little
margin for error. Local pilots were concerned that the berm could
create hazardous wind shear and protrude into what should be
protected airspace.
Interestingly, DOE's director of aviation management also was
concerned with the project because the DOE regularly flies a Twin
Otter into LAM on agency business.
AOPA joined the New Mexico Department of Transportation in
urging DOE to suspend the October start date for the project until
its impact on aeronautical activities could be properly
evaluated.
DOE has agreed to do just that.
In the meeting this week, AOPA also asked DOE to include a pilot
representative in meetings reviewing the project and to hold a
public meeting to talk to local pilots about changes to the
project.
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