BIDDEFORD — A plan to remove part of an unused runway at the Biddeford Municipal Airport and revegetate the area was approved by the Maine Department of Environmental Protection on Wednesday.
The plan was devised to bring the airport in compliance with Maine Site Location of Development Law, known as site law. Currently the airport is in violation of that law, so in July 2010, the City Council ordered that the airport come into compliance.
According to the DEP website, site law requires review of developments that may substantially effect the environment, including commercial developments with three acres or more of structure on a site. Under the law, structures include, but are not limited to, buildings as well as paved surfaces.
Site law permits are approved if applicable standards are met for areas such as stormwater management and groundwater protection.
The violation at the airport was discovered in 2006, according to Airport Manager Tom Bryand. In 2009, the DEP issued a Notice of Violation to the city, said City Engineer Tom Milligan.
An earlier plan to bring the airport into compliance, by creating a stormwater drainage system at an estimated cost of up to $800,000, was rejected as too expensive by the council.
The plan approved by the DEP will cost the city between $30,000 – $50,000, said Milligan.
If the city implements the plan, 1.4 acres of pavement and other impervious surface of an unused runway will be removed and replaced with lawn.
The cost will cover purchase of loam and seed to plant grass where pavement is removed. The Public Works Department will provide the required labor, said Milligan.
The project is scheduled to begin in April, he said.
While Airport Manager Bryand said he liked some aspects of the approved plan, he did have some concerns.
Removing pavement to comply with site law doesn’t provide the improvements necessary to fulfill safety requirements asked for by the Federal Aviation Administration, he said.
“They (city councilors) are just putting it off,” said Bryand.
In addition, he said, the FAA may ask for reimbursement of $88,000 it gave the city to develop an earlier permit application, when the city was considering construction of a stormwater drainage system.
Although the DEP approved the plan to replace a portion of the unused runway with lawn, this does not eliminate all the compliance issues at the airport, said Milligan.
Now, he said, he must conduct research to determine if the airport is in compliance with stormwater laws. If not, it’s unclear what corrective measures would be necessary or how costly they would be.
Mayor Joanne Twomey said she knows approval of this plan “doesn’t mean we still aren’t going to have a problem down the road.” But, she said, taking this contentious issue out of the political arena made creating a solution to comply with site law an easier task.
— Staff Writer Dina Mendros can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 324 or dmendros@journaltribune.com.
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