Earlier this year, the Board of County Commissioners for Santa Clara County, California, home to two popular San Francisco Bay-area GA airports, announced that it was discontinuing all sales of 100 low-lead aviation gasoline at both airports. The decision, the board said, was based on the findings of an environmental study it had commissioned that showed elevated levels of lead in the neighborhoods surrounding the larger of the two airports, Reid-Hillview, one of the busiest airports in the country. The commission failed to disclose that elevated levels of lead were found elsewhere in the county, unrelated to the use of aviation gasoline, or that the levels found were within federal guidelines. Even so, the decision stood.
Bay Area Avgas Drama
Key Takeaways:
- Santa Clara County discontinued 100 low-lead (100LL) aviation gasoline sales at its two General Aviation (GA) airports earlier this year.
- The decision was attributed to an environmental study commissioned by the county, which reported elevated lead levels in neighborhoods surrounding Reid-Hillview Airport.
- Critics argue the county failed to fully disclose that elevated lead levels were found elsewhere in the county unrelated to avgas, and that the levels reported were still within federal guidelines, but the ban remains in effect.
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