Aircraft AvGas Producers Face Charges In Lead Pollution

NEWSROOM


Aircraft AvGas Producers Face Charges In Lead Pollution By Mike Mitchell

		May 13, 2011 - The Center for Environmental Health (CEH) in Oakland Califoria announced it has initiated legal action against ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Shell, AvFuel Corporation and 38 airport-based suppliers of lead containing aviation fuel, for pollution of drinking water sources and/or air around twenty-five airports throughout California. Under California law, pollution of drinking water sources above state standards would require the companies to cease sales of their leaded gas. ?The oil and aviation industries need to know Californians will not tolerate lead pollution that threatens our health and healthy environments,? said Michael Green, Executive Director of CEH.

?We expect the industries to take immediate action to eliminate pollution that endangers children and families who live, work and play near airports across the state.? The CEH legal action identifies 25 airports designated in a 2008 EPA report as those with the highest lead emissions in California. The legal action is directed against the fuel suppliers and companies that produce fuel sold at those airports. Among the airports with high levels of lead emitted from the use of aviation gas (avgas) are Los Angeles International (LAX), Oakland International, Orange County?s John Wayne Airport, Montgomery Field and Gillespie Field in San Diego, and others throughout the state. Van Nuys Airport in LA County, also identified in the CEH action, is listed by EPA as the airport with the country?s highest lead emissions. Oakland, John Wayne and Long Beach?s Daugherty Field are also listed by EPA as among the 12 airports in the country with the highest lead emissions. CEH contends that residents near the airports are exposed to lead through air pollution from planes using leaded avgas, and in the case of seven of the airports, through nearby drinking water sources that are polluted by lead from avgas. CEH has notified the oil companies that produce avgas used at the 25 airports and avgas suppliers at the seven airports with nearby drinking water sources that their sales of avgas are in violation of California?s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act (known as Prop 65), which was established in 1986 to protect state residents from exposures to lead and other harmful chemicals.

Lead is an additive in avgas used in piston-engine aircraft, usually small planes classified for general aviation or as air taxis. In 2008, 550 tons of lead were used in the making of avgas. While lead additives are promoted to boost fuel octane, prevent engine knock, and improve performance, lead also can impair engine functioning.

According to Flying Magazine, lead in avgas can cause spark plug fouling, valve sticking, piston-ring land contamination and preignition due to lead deposits on piston crowns. Further, alternative fuels already exist. For example, ethanol-free premium auto gas is an FAA-approved fuel available for more than 70 percent of current aircraft. The FAA has determined that aircraft using auto gas are as safe as those running on avgas.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been considering lead emissions from aviation gas since 2006, and the agency released its advanced notice of rulemaking last year. According to EPA, in 2005 emissions from aircraft using leaded gas accounted for half of the nation?s air emissions of lead, and the agency noted that lead emissions from aviation fuel ?are also expected to distribute widely through the environment.?

EPA listed drinking water as a source of human exposure to lead, and also found that nationwide up to 16 million people reside and three million children attend school in close proximity to airports where leaded gas is used.

Under Prop 65, residents near sources of high lead emissions must be notified of the potential for lead exposures, and emissions into drinking water above legal limits are banned. In 2008, CEH reached legal agreements under Prop 65 with Chrysler and the leading makers of automobile wheel balancing weights to end their use and sales of lead-containing wheel weights, which had been identified as a leading source of lead contamination of California drinking water.

		CEH has a fifteen-year track record of protecting communities from the health impacts of toxic pollution and has previously uncovered lead and other toxic health threats to children and families from dozens of products and from environmental pollution. CEH also works with major industries and leaders in green business to promote healthier alternatives to toxic products and practices. Last year the San Francisco Business Times bestowed its annual "Green Champion" award to CEH for its work to improve health and the environment in the Bay Area and beyond. Other News Stories (For the latest news please checkout our home page) Congressional Lobbyist Group Retained To Shut Down Ohio Airport British Airline Pilots Association Welcomes Cockpit Cabin Air Quality Report Aviation Director Sentenced For Obstruction Of Justice Southwest Airlines Partners With EAA AirVenture At Oshkosh NASA Spacecraft Galileo Reveals Magma Ocean Under Jupiter Moon OIG To Audit Reporting And Mitigation Errors By Air Traffic Controllers FAA Revises Proposal To Enhance Air Carrier Training Programs Study Shows Millions In Savings For Airlines Reduced Flight Time For Travelers Breitling?s ?Jetman? Makes Historic Flight At Grand Canyon West Northrop Unveils Newest Intelligence Gathering Aircraft System US Airways Pilots Speak Out On Safety Conditions Indonesia Merpati Airlines Crashes Killing All 27 Onboard Embraer Defense Selects Advanced Avionics System For Their KC-390?s British Air Line Pilots' Association Calls On Tighter Rules On Virtual Airlines A Set Back For Air Canada Pilots Age 60 Retirement Rule BBC Equities CEO Arrested In Scheme To Defraud Investors At JFK Airport DOT Fines Ticket Agents For Violations Of Code Share Disclosure Rules Mooney Aircraft Responds To Rumors Over Website Being Down FAA Must Have Long Term Funding GE Deploys First Public Use RNP Flight Path In Alaska Boeing Phantom Ray Completes 1st Flight Reaching 7,500 Feet Singapore Airlines Faces Delivery Delays On Boeing 787 And Airbus A350 Sikorsky Aircraft Completes Active Rotor Wind Tunnel Testing Jack Pelton Steps Down As CEO From Cessna Aircraft First Workshop To Reduce Co2 Emissions From Aviation Underway UAE General Civil Aviation Authority Reports Air Traffic Up 9% Southwest Airlines Closes Acquisition Of AirTran FAA Initiatives At Ohio Airport Compromised Under GOP And DOT Pressure Lynden Man Blinded Border Patrol Helicopter Pilot Faces Jail Time Blue Angels Bring Recruits Into The Cockpit Atlas Air Expands Into Military Passenger Charter Service