By DEAN BILLING.
As you might expect, there is good news and bad news surrounding aviation fuel.
First the good news: A self-serve fuel system has been installed at Nampa, Idaho. (KMAN).
An Oregon bill, HB-3193, that “increases license tax on leaded aircraft fuel,” stalled in the Oregon House Committee On Transportation And Economic Development and is dead for this session.
Now the bad news: Mogas is no longer available at Picabo, Idaho (ID82), so that’s a wash for Idaho.
Despite the outcome of the Center For Environmental Health (CEH) lawsuit in California, I have been unable to find any progress on adding mogas infrastructure to California airports to mitigate the lead footprint that was so worrisome to the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
Even the consulting engineer hired by CEH to “… reach out to California FBOs/retailers of aviation gas to determine if there are any who are interested in obtaining ethanol-free automobile gas (mogas)” indicates that there is no activity and little interest.
It appears that after studying the addition of mogas at Hillsoboro airport (KHIO) to mitigate the largest leaded footprint at an Oregon airport, and finding ” … potentially favorable business outcomes …”, nothing is happening.
What is ironic is that the two airports that sell mogas in Oregon didn’t do any study and find mogas sales profitable. The two airports that did studies, KHIO and KLMT, spent thousands of dollars on studies that went nowhere, even after positive recommendations.
Perhaps the key to adding mogas infrastructure is to put the money studying the project into the project and getting the lead out.
The airports that can afford to add the infrastructure are bureaucracies who have to waste money spinning wheels in the office before anything can happen… and even positive study results are often ignored.
Multiple smaller airports I frequent, which are much less bureaucratic, are very interested in mogas. But they’re tiny and do not have the capital to add a mogas tank and pump (several tens of thousands of dollars).
So we have a mismatch between those with the capital but no will, and those with the will but no capital.
If I were independently wealthy… I’d sponsor The Dalles (KDLS) or Hood River (4S2) and swing a deal for a cut of the proceeds in exchange for capital investment. They both see enough training and traffic activity, and have aircraft based on-site with mogas STCs. There’s just no mogas at any nearby airports. Would be a pretty safe business investment.
I feel that Dean’s comments, especially the last sentence hits the mark on the Mogas. Put that study monies into the Mogas equipment, then stand back and see the outcome.
Indeed that would make sense, except that airports, with few exceptions, are bureaucracies.
The most important thing to them is to find grant money to fund studies, and, above all, keep having meetings until they find out why nothing is being done.