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Commissioner urges immediate storm-drain protections after plane washing at Rio Vista Airport
Summary
At the Airport Advisory Committee meeting, Commissioner Butler warned that planes and RVs being washed near storm drains could violate EPA stormwater rules and urged the committee to adopt a simple oil-water "pig" separator solution; staff will have engineers review costs and return with memos and recommendations.
At the Airport Advisory Committee meeting, Commissioner Butler pressed the committee to act on storm-drain compliance after repeated observations of planes and RVs being degreased or washed too close to storm drains at the Rio Vista airport. He said the practice could trigger large fines and negative publicity under federal stormwater rules.
Butler said the EPA and local Solano resource guidance require a stormwater pollution prevention plan (SWPPP) and described a low-cost containment approach: "any water going into the storm drain has to have an, it's called a pig. It's an oil, water separator around it," he said, adding that a portable filtration device plus a 50-gallon drum could keep runoff out of drains for a total cost he estimated at about $150.
"If it's reported, the fine is extensive, very, very extensive," Butler said, arguing the city should not delay. Chairman Budner proposed purchasing the pig filtration device and a drum to make protection accessible: "I make a motion that we purchase the pig filtration device as well as a 50 gallon drum for storage so that we can have that accessible when somebody is planning to do some sort of cleaning around the airport," he said.
Airport staff said the committee should not vote on a purchase that night and that both the civil engineer and the airport engineer have been engaged to review the situation. A staff member said engineers will prepare memos and return at the next meeting with recommendations on maintenance and full cost estimates; staff also advised the committee that the engineers could appear at a future meeting to answer questions.
Commissioners discussed timing and agreed to set a follow-up meeting to continue the item. One commissioner asked how many drains would require protection; Butler replied there is "one main one" and possibly another, and said the device is portable and reusable. The committee did not authorize an immediate purchase that evening; staff were referred to prepare documentation and options for committee consideration at a subsequent meeting.
The committee asked staff to bring back memos from the civil and airport engineers and to include a proposed cost and maintenance plan when the item returns to the agenda.
