20070817 State to investigate mysterious stains in area near airport by Kelsey Volkmann

State to investigate mysterious stains in area near airport

(Arianne Starnes/Examiner) “I just want to know what it is,” Westminster resident Nancy Frick says as she points out black stains on the sidewalk in her neighborhood, where she is worried be jets may be dumping fuel.

Kelsey Volkmann, The Examiner

2007-08-17

WESTMINSTER, Md. –

Residents’ complaints about fuel leaking from corporate jets have prompted a state inspector to investigate the black spots that dot roofs and sidewalks near the airport in Westminster.

[…]

Residents say the black substance has fallen onto eight houses along Sullivan Road, Snowfall Way and Bonfire Court.

But Les Dorr, a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, said that without tangible evidence planes have leaked fuel, the residents may be “kind of reaching for something that may not be there.”

Pilots dump their fuel only to lighten their loads to make an emergency landing, and when they do, they are instructed to do so in unpopulated areas and at an altitude of at least 2,000 feet, said Arlene Salac, an FAA spokeswoman.

Most of the time, the fuel dissipates in the air, and with the cost of it, pilots wouldn’t dump fuel needlessly, she said.

Airport manager Dean Leister said few of the aircraft that fly into the airport – mostly corporate jets and recreational planes – have the capability to dump fuel.

[…]

Westminster activist Mary Kowalski, an outspoken opponent of a planned runway expansion, contacted the state to request a probe after the Carroll County Health Department determined that the substance probably was not jettisoned fuel.

Kowalski also suggested the spots could be oil residue from jet exhaust. “I think that’s a real concern as well,” she said.

Nancy Frick, a grandmother who lives along Snowfall Way, eagerly awaits results of the state investigation.

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