We’d like to bring to your attention a number of potentially encouraging actions
pertaining to leaded avgas (aviation fuel), an issue that has been of high concern
to our Hanscom-area communities for decades:
(such as smaller, piston engine aircraft that operate at Hanscom). This is the first
of several necessary steps that may lead to regulations and standards to phase out
this last category of aircraft that still uses leaded avgas.
- HFAC submits Public Comment on Hanscom 2022 ESPR Proposed Scope
(ESPR - Environmental Status and Planning Report)
At the 11/16/22 meeting, members of the Hanscom Field Advisory Commission unanimously voted to submit a Comment focused on an issue that is largely absent from the Proposed ESPR Scope: contamination of air, soil and water from leaded avgas used at Hanscom, and the need to test, monitor, and eventually eliminate it.(HFAC Comment attached)
Environmental Review by MEPA, which includes:
- “Accelerating the Transition to Lead-Free Skies” – virtual conference, free
hosted by Quiet Communities and the Boston University College of Arts & Science class
- Thurs, 12/15/22, 12-3 pm
- How to register: Email Richard Reibstein at [email protected] to request Zoom link information
- Description of conference:
Airborne lead from gasoline exhaust is a well-known health hazard. It was eliminated from road vehicle fuel 30 years ago, yet remains the main fuel for small aircraft threatening the health of residents living near airports. This 2.5-3 hour conference hosted by a Boston University class and the nonprofit Quiet Communities brings together policy makers, regulators, citizens, industry and operators to how to accelerate the transition to unleaded aviation fuel and rid the skies of lead. Everyone will be invited to contribute ideas to be published in an event report and shared with the public. (Source: Conference hosts)
On the downside --
- The 11/17/22 Annual Report of the Air Force Restoration Advisory Board
(AF RAB) included disturbing news:
The AF groundwater treatment plant, set up on the northeast edge of Hanscom airfield in Bedford in 1991 to treat TCE (Trichloroethylene) under the airfield, has inadvertently been contaminating nearby surface waters with PFAS (polyfluoroalkyl substances) from beneath the airfield by discharging treated airfield groundwater (treated for TCE, not PFAS) into nearby wetlands.
A pathway for those contaminated surface waters to reach the Shawsheen River has recently been identified. There are receptors of PFAS contaminated drinking water downstream from the airfield: by the Bedford Shawsheen municipal wellfield (shut down in 2019), and the Burlington Shawsheen River diversion station.
AF groundwater treatment plant operations to remove TCE were halted for equipment repairs in 2021, and will not resume until new information is assessed. (-- Report by Bedford resident, Jennifer Boles)
This expanded dispersion of contaminants serves to further reinforce the urgent need to support, and make, every effort to limit and monitor pollutants at Hanscom, as well as phase out all leaded avgas use.
Please take part in as many of these actions as you can. Thank you! Anna West Winter
HFAC Comment on EsprScope, 2022, Revised 11.17.22.pdf