Fuel fouled
Airport supply contaminated
BY PHIL REYNOLDS SOUTH JETTY REPORTER

The fuel supply has been shut off at Port Aransas' Mustang Beach Airport for an indeterminate length of time because of pollution in the fuel tanks, city officials said.

The contamination, a microbe growth in the fuel tank, was discovered during a routine inspection, said Pat Garrett, executive assistant at city hall. Federal Aviation Administration officials were notified immediately and the city stopped selling aviation fuel at the airport until the tanks could be cleaned.

Garrett said the contamination in the tank was near the bottom, and planes drawing fuel from the tank get it from near the top, so no aircraft fueled from the tank was in any danger because of the fuel supply.

A frequent user of Mustang Beach Airport, Port Aransas resident Mark Creighton, said he had been giving some friends sightseeing flights around the area on Saturday, Feb. 9, and was surprised when he landed back at his home field to see an "out of order" sign on the fuel pump.

With an hour's fuel remaining in his plane, Creighton said he was able to fly to a nearby airport to refuel. However, he said at Mustang Beach Airport, he saw three aviators who had flown to Port Aransas for the weekend, and who had expected to be able to buy fuel here.

"There's no doubt it's an imposition," Creighton said.

City Councilman Keith Donley, a former airport board chairman, said he would push for the city to get the work completed as quickly as possible so fliers could fuel their planes at the airport once again.

Donley said he has asked for the matter to be put on the city council agenda for the next regular meeting, scheduled for 5 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 21, in the council chamber.

"There's no question that the airport is important to the city," Donley said. He repeated a statement he has made in the past, that visitors who fly to Port Aransas are ones who rent cars and condominiums and choose Port Aransas restaurants in which to dine.

"These aren't people who come here for a weekend and pitch a tent on the beach," he said.

Donley said the city's fuel supplier, Chevron, had set a 60-day deadline for the city to repair the tank and prepare it to receive a new supply of fuel. If the city doesn't meet that deadline, Donley said, Chevron will refuse to sell aviation gasoline to the city.

He estimated it would cost around $35,000 to prepare Mustang Beach Airport to the point where fuel can be sold there again, including the cost of cleaning the fuel tank, the cost of fuel remaining in the tank that can't be used by pilots and the cost of refilling the tank once it's cleaned.

It's not known exactly how the fuel got contaminated, but Donley said closer supervision at the airport might have detected it earlier.

"The problem is, the airport needs to be run like a business," Donley said. "The city is running it like a part-time business."