Expedited closure of Reid-hillview sought
County officials also seek ban on sale of leaded fuel
Neighbors of Reid-hillview Airport who have long complained about the loud buzz of aircraft flying overhead, feared that a plane could come crashing into their home and stressed about leaded aviation fuel poisoning their children scored a major victory Aug. 18.
After a five-hour public hearing and discussion, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously around midnight to ask federal regulators to hasten the closure of the 180-acre general aviation airport ineastsanjoseandtobanthesaleof leaded aviation fuel at the site in the meantime.
“We are all in agreement that lead exposure for residents living near ReidHillview is unacceptable and must be alleviated,” Supervisor Susan Ellenberg said.
The requests could set off a lengthy and contentious battle between the county and the Federal Aviation Administration, which has ultimate authority over airport operations.
In Santa Monica, for instance, city leaders voted in 2016 to close its airport in two years. But the FAA legally challenged the action, and a subsequent settlement called for the airport to remain open until 2028 — a decade longer than the city desired.
Santa Clara County Executive Jeff Smith said Tuesday that he was preparing for “a challenge that will take considerable fortitude.”
Santa Clara County supervisors in 2018 took their first step toward closing the county-owned airport when they voted to stop accepting grants from the FAA — a move that the agency strongly opposed. That decision paved the way for the county to close the airport in 2031 when its grant obligations to the FAA would expire. The supervisors’ Tuesday decision aims to expedite that process.
But in a statement Wednesday, the FAA said it is “committed to working with San Jose and Santa Clara County representatives to help the county meet its federal obligations while maintaining the use of the airport and addressing community environmental concerns,” making no indication that the agency would permit the county to shutter Reid-hillview early.
The move comes just two weeks after the county released a new study declaring that leaded fuel used by pistonengine planes that fly in and out of the airport was contributing to elevated levels of lead in the blood of children living around Reid-hillview.
Community members and advocates who have rallied to shut down ReidHillview for years cautiously celebrated the board’s decision on Aug. 18.
“It’s a nice feeling to be heard, but the fight continues,” said Maricela Lechuga, a Santa Clara County airport commissioner and a resident living in the airport’s flight path.
Aviation advocates who want to keep the airport open, however, expressed disappointment in the county’s push to close it early, especially in light of their recent effort to transition planes at Reid-hillview over to unleaded fuel, which they feel is the best solution to lead-exposure concerns.
“This will be an expensive and unneeded litigation that will go on for years,” Michael Mcdonald, a private pilot who flies out of Reid-hillview, said about the closure effort. “A significant solution is here now, and a full solution will be here long before litigation is ever completed.”
Although lead-based automobile gasoline was fully phased out more than two decades ago, the same standards were never set for aviation fuel. The piston-engine planes that use Reid-hillview run on the last type of gasoline permitted to contain lead in the U.S.
Exposure to lead can hinder children’s physical and cognitive development, potentially causing lower IQ, decreased attention span and academic underperformance.
Efforts by Santa Clara County officials and East San Jose community members to shut down Reid-hillview began nearly four decades ago.