RSSFAA, Delta County, company sort out why power lines built near airport
The shadow of a plane flown by David Shepard of Grand Junction appears on the landscape on approach to Blake Field Airport north of Delta, where Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association recently erected transmission lines.
Grand Junction pilot David Shepard lands his aircraft at Blake Field Airport north of Delta. A Federal Aviation Administration official says the onus of enforcement will be on Delta County should the FAA put in place stringent safety requirements at the airport because of nearby power lines.
QUICKREAD
About Tri-State
According to its website, tristategt.org, Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. is a wholesale electric power supplier owned by the 44 electric cooperatives that it serves, including the Delta-Montrose Electric Association.
The Westminster-based energy supplier serves a 200,000-square-mile territory and approximately 1.5 million customers in parts of four states: Colorado, New Mexico, Nebraska and Wyoming.Federal Aviation Administration regulation Title 14 Part 77 establishes standards and notification requirements for construction affecting navigable airspace. It sets guidelines for height, proximity to an airport and location.
Blake Field Airport’s runway is 5,598 feet long, and the FAA requires notification on construction near airports with runways longer than 3,200 feet.
According to Robert van Haastert, a supervisor with the FAA, use of its online Notice Criteria Tool does not serve as notification to the FAA about a project or serve a determination by the FAA about whether a project will conflict with agency guidelines. The tool is for use by the public as an indication of whether a filing with the FAA is required.
According to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Inc. spokeswoman Sarah Carlisle, Tri-State first used the Notice Criteria Tool in July and determined the company did not need to file a notice with the FAA because the location entered into the computer wasn’t listed as a problem in relation to Blake Field.
Carlisle said construction of the power poles began in September, and only after concerns were raised in October did the company re-evaluate the project’s location and determine the data it used was incorrect. Tri-State said after the correct data was used, the company notified the FAA on Oct. 28, but it continued construction until the poles and lines were completed sometime after Nov. 15.
Van Haastert said the FAA received the Tri-State proposal Nov. 1, completed the required evaluation on Nov. 24 and sent out a public notice on Dec. 2, weeks after Tri-State finished the project.
— William Woody
DELTA — High-power overhead transmission lines appear to have been erected near Blake Field Airport north of Delta with little knowledge of federal aviation officials.
The Federal Aviation Administration is reviewing the project and could recommend strict safety measures if the poles aren’t removed or rerouted.
The 12.9-mile, $21 million project was completed in November and includes two new electric substations, according to Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association Inc. The lines are linked to a transmission route between Montrose and Grand Junction.
The Delta County Commission granted Tri-State approval for the lines last year with stipulations that the company adhere to all federal and state regulations.
“The power company didn’t wait for the FAA to complete its aeronautical study. It wasn’t supposed to happen,” said Robert van Haastert, a supervisor with the Federal Aviation Administration.
The power lines are not in operation but will transmit 115 kilovolts when energized, according to Tri-State.
The transmission route runs one-half mile northwest of the Blake Field runway, according to airport manager Mark Husman. Ten of the poles have been put on a hill that rises 100 feet higher than the runway, and at 50 feet tall, the poles exceed the height limit set forth by the FAA.
The airport is three miles north of Delta.
Pilots began noticing the construction last fall and immediately voiced safety concerns to county officials.
“The main point of contention is that the line has been completed, the poles are up, and the line is up,” Delta County Attorney Brad Kolman said. “Tri-State said their guy made a mistake with the longitude and latitudes.”
That’s why the FAA is late to the game but not without influence in the final outcome.
A company wanting to build a structure near an airport must notify the FAA prior to its construction. The company can complete the Notice Criteria Tool on the FAA’s website, which helps an applicant determine whether notice to the FAA is warranted.
“Following concerns expressed by the Delta County and Blake Field Airport, Tri-State re-evaluated the location data entered into the Notice Criteria Tool last July and determined, after consulting with the FAA, that the latitude and longitude information for the transmission line project was improperly converted before being entered into the online tool,” Tri-State spokeswoman Sarah Carlisle said in a written statement.
She said Tri-State acted swiftly when the problem was identified and that it has worked diligently with the FAA to get a determination and resolve the issue in a timely manner.
Tri-State’s completion of the project has forced the FAA to be reactionary, van Haastert said. And whatever it determines should be done will need to be enforced by Delta County, not the federal agency.
Van Haastert said the FAA normally conducts studies to determine whether construction projects affect established approach patterns or impede visual flight rules, or VFR, for takeoffs and landings.
Because Blake Field has no approach patterns, and only noncommercial, general-aviation aircraft use the airfield, the FAA is conducting a VFR study to gauge whether the power lines affect aircraft flying low or in bad weather.
Visual flight rules are sets of regulations that allow a pilot to operate aircraft in clear weather without the use of instruments.
“Obviously, the hill itself is a concern. On one side they’re even closer to the airport. On the other side of the hill they’re building into a wilderness area,” Kolman said. “Certainly any alteration would be very expensive.”
Kolman said Delta County isn’t drawing any conclusions regarding potential legal action against Tri-State and the county and Tri-State area awaiting findings from the FAA on Feb. 8.
“Personally, I think (the power lines) should be taken down,” Husman said.
Tri-State declined to discuss a cost estimate if it has to reroute part of the transmission line, saying such speculation is premature. Instead, Carlisle said, “These issues will be carefully evaluated following completion of the FAA’s study that is presently under way.”
Van Haastert said the FAA could advise Tri-State to install red warning lights on top of the poles and lighted signal balls on the wires themselves.
“The safety lights and balls are just a Band-Aid,” Husman said.
In addition, van Haastert said the FAA could require the minimum-altitude standards to be increased in order for pilots to remain at a safe distances from the power lines.
“(The new standards) could make the instrument-approach procedures useless,” van Haastert said. “It could wreak havoc for planes operating in clouds at 400 feet, making landings inoperative. … Bad weather sometimes forces these guys to lower altitudes, bringing more danger to the pilots from these power lines.”
Van Haastert said the FAA has encountered similar situations, most recently at an airport in Pueblo, where an area of overhead power lines was completed before the FAA became aware of it.
Van Haastert said if the power lines near Blake Field remain in place, FAA navigational charts would have to be amended with their locations.
Blake Field is one of two municipal airports in Delta County.
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