Olympia Airport Master Plan update brings more concerns from residents

At the Port of Olympia's third open house for the Olympia Regional Airport Master Plan Update yesterday, port consultant project manager Leah Whitfield reiterated that Olympia Regional Airport is not being considered for use as a commercial cargo or passenger service airport.

"CACC [Commercial Aviation Coordinating Commission] is a group created by the Legislature to develop recommendations to meet Washington State's critical aviation capacity. They do have a shortlist of airports. Olympia is not being considered in that study in that shortlist," Whitfield said.

The CACC presented the Legislature with its "final shortlist" report on February 9, 2022, as The JOLT previously reported. It recommended six airports for further investigation. 

That list does not include Olympia Regional Airport. Only Snohomish County (Paine Field) Airport was listed as having "potential for additional general aviation capacity."

For clarification, CACC's work, being conducted by the State of Washington, and the Olympia Regional Airport Master Plan Update, a project of the Port of Olympia, are two distinct processes.

The project team discussed several emerging technologies for the airport such as electric aircraft, hybrid, liquid-hydrogen aircraft, and sustainable aviation fuels.

Public Comments

Community members reacted once again after a project manager pointed out that the Olympia Regional Airport (OLM) is not included in the airport masterplan. 

Other comments focused on the ongoing work of the CACC and health concerns.

An attendee, Ursula Euler, said that the statement just made that the Olympia Regional Airport is not being considered by the CACC is "not true." 

Euler clarified that while the project is not on the preliminary list of airports, those airports are known to the CACC to not fulfill passenger traffic capacity needs as determined by the state legislature. 

Citing the CACC's meeting last January 6, Euler mentioned that the list of the current six airports needs to be modified. 

"I am saying this in the interest of full disclosure to the public," Euler underscored.

Another attendee, Jan Witt, agreed with Euler's statement, saying that CACC will be recommending airports for enhancement.

Witt said: "It is pretty clear listening to CACC discussions that the Olympia airport may be on the list of airports recommended for enhancement. Enhancement – what that would mean – has not been defined. But it obviously would mean an increase in operations."

On the other hand, Lee Riner, said: "I wish they would talk about the health concerns regarding aircraft flying over the top of our heads."

According to Riner, the health concerns about particulate matter showering from US aircraft should be enough to "make us all very, very concerned."

Riner pointed out that many people "completely dismiss" the discussion about the long-range effects of the future electric aircraft.

"It's a pie in the sky. You can talk and talk and talk about it. But you don't want to talk about health care, health impacts to the population," Riner added.

According to Riner, the health impacts caused by aircraft emissions are not sustainable over the long term. 

Witt also agreed to Riner's sentiment, saying the update should include the entire public health study that the legislature mandated.

"I would hope that the update would include that the Olympia airport would stop selling leaded fuel," Witt mentioned.

Electric airplanes and alternative fuels at OLM

During the same Airport Master Plan Update open house, port environmental planner Renee Dowlin and airport planner Hasseb Mirza highlighted the prospect of electric aviation and alternative fuel aircraft once more.

"There is a potential for the Olympia airport to support alternative fuel aircraft through training and general aviation activities," Dowlin said.

Mirza likewise mentioned that said the progress of electric hydrogen and hybrid type aircraft had come a long way in a very short amount of time.

"It's developing rapidly and then ultimately, we want to make sure that the airport's concentrated in making sure that it's self-sustainable and achieving self-sufficiency," Mirza added.

On the other hand, Dowlin explained that hybrid aircraft are "cheaper to maintain and operate" compared to regular aircraft.

Dowlin also added that hybrid aircraft can be quieter. Dowlin added that sustainable aviation fuels have actually been around for several years.

Sustainable aviation fuels have "grown exponentially in the last few years and will continue to grow again sustainable aviation fuels," Dowlin explained.

Meanwhile Hasseb Mirza assured attendees: “We want the port to be able to generate revenue through the airport to pay for itself so that it's not going to be a burden on outside funding sources” [such as local property taxes].

Airport Rehabilitation

Meanwhile, other future projects that the project managers shared include rehabilitating the runway and taxiways in Olympia Regional Airport.

Darren Murata, the lead engineer present during the Airport Master Plan Update, said they would rehabilitate Runway 17-35 in the next zero to five years. In addition, they propose to shorten Runway 8-26 by 647 feet to a total length of 3510 feet in size.  "Murata proposed relocating a portion of Taxiway F and F connectors and also constructing a runup pad at the south end of Runway 17/35," according to a source at the Port.

In the next six to 10 years, Murata said they would rehabilitate taxiway G. He added that the engineers would move Taxiway W over to make the way parallel with the runway.

Murata added they would remove taxiways C and D within the next 10 to 15 years and relocate the connector taxiways to Runway 8-26. The engineers would also move Taxiway F connection to Runway 8-26.

"The reason to do that is you want your connector taxiways to intersect at a 90-degree angle and be outside the middle third," Murata said.

The data shared by the project team further explained that engineers had to do the relocation to "meet design standards."

Airport Master Plan and Airport Layout Plan

The Airport Master Plan is a long-term planning document that assesses existing conditions and forecasts future aviation and non-aviation requirements for the city and the airport. These requirements serve as the foundation for determining the airport's appropriate role and future growth, driving the master planning process. The previous plan, finished in 2013, can be found on the Port's website.

The Airport Layout Plan is available on the Port's Airport Master Plan website. The ALP is a visual, conceptual development plan that lays out the adjustments needed to address design defects, rising aviation demand, and changing conditions and scenarios at the airport. The existing ALP was been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration. Any proposed future developments will be subjected to a thorough state and federal environmental evaluation as required by law. "This Master Plan Update will produce a new Airport Layout Plan that will need to be approved by the FAA," according to a Port spokesperson.

The CACC’s consultants will report on the first recommendations for existing and new locations appropriate for passenger and cargo expansion on June 22 (tentatively scheduled).  For details about the open house or to register to participate online, click this link.

CORRECTIONS:  June 2, 2022 -- In a previous version of this story, we misspelled the name of Hasseb Mirza. The caption below the slide shown above was corrected to indicate that "the airport is not being considered by the CACC for commercial use.  The words "[such as local property taxes]" were those of The JOLT and have been properly placed outside of the quotation mark above.  We clarified that the existing Airport Layout Plan (ALP) was approved by the FAA and added a comment from the Port about the new ALP.   We regret these errors.   Further, the Port of Olympia requested that we clarify that Leah Whitfield is a consultant for the Port and we have done so above.