US Congress Aircraft Lead

US Congress Aircraft Lead – 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas) Tetraethyl Lead (TEL)

HAZARDOUS
KEEP OUT OF REACH OF CHILDREN

A United States Congressional Hearing on 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas) with Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) Raised Awareness. Still More Needs to Be Done

One the Best kept secrets in Michigan are the dangers of 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas) with Tetraethyl Lead (TEL). The facts regarding dangers of 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas) with Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) are NOT mentioned ANYWHERE, especially by the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT). Hopefully that’s all about to change with help from Congress.

A Congressional hearing on leaded aviation fuel raised awareness (html) 07-31-2022 — Quartz. Committee expressed bipartisan shock at the scope of the problem and how hidden it has been from the public agenda.

“While lead pipes and paint are well known contributors to this mass poisoning of American people, especially in our children, leaded aviation fuel is NOT,” said Rashida Tlaib, a Michigan Democrat whose district is not far from Flint, where contamination of the water supply a few years ago put the dangers of lead exposure back on the public’s radar.

“This is a wakeup call,” she added, thanking subcommittee chairman Ro Khanna of California for bringing the issue to her attention. She recently learned about lead emission levels at airports in and around her district [Michigan]—“I actually looked this up because of this committee hearing,” she said—concluding,

“When planes from these airports fly over our communities, they are crop-dusting our neighborhoods with lead-poisoned air.”

Thankfully, the outrage over this is NOT monopolized by any one political party.

Representatives Discuss the Impacts of Leaded Aviation Fuel on Communities and Children (html) 07-29-2022  – The Eno Center for Transportation (html). summarized below.

“You can have exemptions for agriculture or in commercial areas” if the US Environmental Protection Agency bans leaded fuel, Khanna told Quartz after the hearing. “What we’re talking about is residential areas where a lot of kids are. If he [Flood] wants to carve out some exceptions for ag[riculture] in places where you need that until you have a transition [to unleaded fuel], he can.”

  • 70 percent of all lead emissions, or over 450 tons, are emitted by Piston Engine Aircraft
  • 20,000 aviation facilities in the US use 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas), and within 1 kilometer of those facilities, there are over 16 million people, including 3 million children. Over 600 schools are located within half a kilometer of such a site. This includes three Michigan Plymouth Canton Community Schools (PCCS) within hundreds of feet of the “Run Up” areas at Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) owned Canton Plymouth Mettetal Airstrip in Canton Township Michigan. MDOT has done or said absolutely nothing over the last decade to protect vulnerable populations anywhere in Michigan.
  • The Environment Subcommittee, chaired by Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), hosted the hearing, “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel is Poisoning America’s Children,” and invited high-level members of both the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The agency chiefs were unable to testify and no other deputies or senior Administration officials appeared, a move that was condemned by several of the committee members.
  • (Ed. Note: A December 2021 TRB study noted the problem: if you try to push 94UL out right now, many GA airports would have to offer both it and regular 100LL at the same time, which would require those airports to double their number of avgas storage tanks and pumps. Those airports would, no doubt, come to Congress asking for money to defray the costs of those investments.) NOTE: fully 80% of these airports are Hobby, Sport, Recreational Social Entertainment Venues that have nothing to do with critical infrastructure and should NOT siphon ANY tax dollars at all.
Living Near ANY Michigan Airports

Environment Subcommittee – House Committee on Oversight and Reform – Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel AKA 1ooLL Avgas with Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) is Poisoning America’s Children

Congressional Hearing on How Leaded Aviation Fuel is Poisoning America’s Children – Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET

  • House Committee on Oversight and Reform (html).
  • Environment (117th Congress) | House Committee on Oversight and Reform. Subcommittee on Environment, which shall have oversight jurisdiction over: global climate change; environmental protection, public lands, endangered species, air and water quality; oceans; public health; conservation; international agreements; energy policy, research and development; and oversight and legislative jurisdiction over regulatory affairs and federal paperwork reduction.
  • Chairman Khanna to Hold Hearing on Health and Environmental Dangers of Leaded Aviation Fuel (html) 07-25-2022.
  • Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children (html) 07-28-2022 | House Committee on Oversight and Reform. YouTube – Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET. The hearing is well worth listening to. It runs for 106-minutes, but your listening time is actually only 76-minutes, due to a full 30-minute recess (starts at minute-24, and you can skip ahead to minute-54) for a House Vote.
  • Khanna Calls Biden EPA, FAA Refusal to Join Hearing on Lead in Children’s Blood ‘Unconscionable’ (html) 07-25-2022 | Common Dreams. The FAA is too busy attending yet another Hobby, Sport, Recreational Social Special Interest & Industry Lobbyist Picnic Venue but promptly responded with typical meaningless Special Interest & Industry Lobbyist boilerplate greenwashing gibberish. Not sure what the EPA is thinking? Also, it is not clear why there wasn’t any involvement with the Environment Subcommittee – House Committee on Science, Space and Technology or the Aviation | Subcommittees | The House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure (html).

On Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. ET, Representative Ro Khanna, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Environment, will hold a hybrid hearing to examine the health harms associated with leaded aviation fuel and its impacts on American communities and the environment.

Airborne lead exposure from aviation fuel is an urgent yet little-known health crisis impacting millions of people who live near general aviation airports in the United States.  Lead is highly toxic and a probable carcinogen, causing health effects such as brain damage, learning disabilities, reduced fertility, nerve damage, and death.  Despite the dangers associated with it, many airplanes continue to utilize leaded fuel, putting the health and safety of Americans—especially children—at risk.

Despite clear evidence of harm and the existence of unleaded fuel alternatives, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have failed for many years to take meaningful action to curb the use of leaded aviation fuel.  Simultaneously, the fossil fuel and aviation industries have lobbied to delay efforts to phase out leaded fuel.

In the United States, general aviation airports are often located in low-income communities and communities of color, causing those communities to suffer disproportionately from the health impacts of leaded aviation fuel.  Lead exposure from aviation fuel is an ongoing environmental justice crisis.  This hearing will examine the impacts of leaded aviation fuel on American communities and on the environment to better understand the urgency of permanently phasing out the dangerous substance.

Environmental Subcommittee Members

Subcommittee on Environment, which shall have oversight jurisdiction over: global climate change; environmental protection, public lands, endangered species, air and water quality; oceans; public health; conservation; international agreements; energy policy, research and development; and oversight and legislative jurisdiction over regulatory affairs and federal paperwork reduction.

Democrats

Republicans

Question: What’s a 4-letter word for a polluting, regulation skirting, hostile, misleading, lying, arrogant, bullying organization in need of direction, oversight, transparency, accountability AND the largest waste of taxpayer money in Michigan history?
Answer: MDOT

America’s fleet of Predominantly Personal Hobby, Sport, Recreational Social Entertainment 170,000 Piston-Engine Aircraft (PEA)

America’s fleet of Predominantly Personal Hobby, Sport, Recreational Social Entertainment 170,000 Piston-Engine Aircraft (PEA):

  • Burn about 192 million gallons of 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel AKA Avgas yearly
    • Over 1,120 gallons per each Piston-Engine Aircraft (PEA) yearly average
    • 50 year Piston-Engine Aircraft (PEA) AKA Flying Junk Piles (FJPs) average age
    • 2.2 grams of Tetraethyl Lead (TEL) per each gallon
  • Release 468 tons of Lead byproducts into the atmosphere, US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates.
  • Represent an on-going “192 million gallon a year” Public Health, Safety & Welfare loophole – nightmare across the United States.
Pink dots are “Playgrounds”. Blue dots are “Schools”. Green dots are “Parks”.
Three Canton Plymouth Schools are hundreds of feet from both “Run Up areas” at MDOT Owned Canton Plymouth Mettetal 1d2 airstrip.
MANY Other PCCS Schools dangerously CLOSE!

Related Links

  • “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children” (html)| Congress.gov | Library of Congress SEE: Video of Proceedings, Witness Testimony, Supporting Documentation, etc.
  • “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children” (html) | Committee Repository | U.S. House of Representatives. SEE: memo – reference: Zahran, S., Iverson, T., McElmurry, S. P., and Weiler, S., The Effect of Leaded Aviation Gasoline on Blood Lead in Children, Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, (2017) (online at https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691686) Links time and spatially referenced blood lead data from over a million children to 448 nearby airports in Michigan.
  • Chairman Khanna’s Opening Statement: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children (html)  (pdf) 07-28-2022 – YouTube. One study in Michigan showed starkly how blood lead levels in children rise and fall in in close tandem with local air traffic patterns.
  • San Jose’s Reid-Hillview Airport draws congressional scrutiny over leaded aviation fuel (html) 07-28-2022 – CBS San Francisco. The subcommittee heard testimony about the harmful effects of airborne lead on communities near general aviation airports due to the use of leaded fuel. Representative Rashida Tlaib, who represents the 13th congressional district in Michigan, voiced concern that the nation is undergoing a lead crisis, with action needed to protect people from lead exposure. “When planes from these airports fly over our communities, they are crop-dusting our neighborhoods with lead-poisoned air,” Tlaib said.
  • House Oversight Hearing: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children (html) | Aviation Impact Reform. A general timeline follows is at the bottom of the post.
  • “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children” (html) | Congress.gov | Library of Congress (LoC). Witnesses testimony, supporting documentation, hearing record, etc. Dr. Bruce Lanphear’s testimony (pdf) references Zahran S, Iverson T, McElmurry SP, Weiler S. The effect of leaded aviation gasoline on blood lead in children (html). Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists. 2017;4(2):575-610. 448 airports and over 1 million children in Michigan, who lived near a general airport had significantly higher blood lead levels after accounting for age of housing stock and industrial sources.
  • Congressional Committee Looking At National 100LL Ban (html) 07-26-2022 – Avweb. Strangely equates a study that found “no evidence of elevated lead levels in soil around the airport” forgets that inhaling “Tetraethyl Lead (TEL)” is damaging and harmful even if there is zero lead in the soil.
  • Oregon Aviation Watch – Home. Research, educate and advocate on behalf of the public interest and public welfare about aviation issues to enhance and protect the quality of life for Oregon residents by eliminating the adverse impacts of aviation activity.
  • C.A.G.E. – Citizens Against Gillespie’s Expansion. Citizens for a Friendly Airport filed a lawsuit against the County of San Diego due to a lack of transparency and deficient environmental studies to protect the residents of North County!
  • Cindy Chavez | Facebook. 07-28-2022 – Today’s Congressional hearing put Reid-Hillview Airport under scrutiny & on the national stage as an environmental congressional subcommittee considers a national ban on leaded aviation fuel.
  • Earthjustice praises Congressional oversight of lead in aviation fuel (html) 07-29-2022 | Earthjustice. Despite multiple attempts to compel participation, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) notably declined to participate. We urge FAA and EPA to protect families and children by banning the use of leaded aviation fuel.
  • Dr. Chandramouli, Medical Director, Gardner Health Services: Leaded fuel is hurting East San Jose families (html) – San José Spotlight. Congressman Khanna’s hearings show why the entire U.S. needs to join Santa Clara County in ending the use of this fuel, 100LL Leaded Aviation Fuel (Avgas).

Environment Subcommittee – House Committee on Science, Space and Technology

 Home | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology.

Environment (117th Congress) | Subcommittees | House Committee on Science, Space and Technology (html). The Subcommittee on Environment shall have jurisdiction over the following subject matters: All matters relating to environmental research; Environmental Protection Agency research and development; environmental standards; climate change research and development; the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, including all activities related to weather, weather services, climate, the atmosphere, marine fisheries, and oceanic research; risk assessment activities; scientific issues related to environmental policy, including climate change;; other appropriate matters as referred by the Chair; and relevant oversight.

Reference

The https://close1d2.org Team submitted attempted (without any sign of success) to provide Congressional input by submitting a Statement for the Record, House Committee on Oversight and Reform, Subcommittee on Environment, Hearing on: “Toxic Air: How Leaded Aviation Fuel Is Poisoning America’s Children”, Submitted by: Matthew A. Grisius, a Concerned Father, Grandfather and Angry Taxpayer – (https://close1d2.org) 08-28-2022 #4 FINAL (pdf).

The https://close1d2.org Team Provided Input to the National Academies of Science (NAS) Project: Lead Emissions from Piston-Powered General Aviation Aircraft TRB-CAAS-18-03 (html) September 14, 2020 v5.1 (pdf).

Further Reading