Officials Skirmish Over Mammoth Airport Expansion

April 19, 2005

    Mammoth Town Councilman Skip Harvey and the town’s newly-formed airport commission this week engaged in a contentious public dispute over safety issues.
    Harvey, a first-year councilman, alleged in an April 7 letter to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) that “financial interests of a few people” are guiding the airport expansion project, possibly leading to what Harvey calls “unnecessary safety risks.”
    A copy of Harvey’s  letter was distributed by the town’s airport commission today, along with the commission's reply.
    “Your premise is incorrect and your position is misleading,” wrote Thom Heller, chair of the airport commission.
    “It is irresponsible for you to suggest that the FAA might approve an airport design that would not be safe,” Heller wrote. Later in his letter, Heller said, “Your inferences are not supported by the facts.”
    Harvey’s letter to the FAA was written on his own letterhead, and he said in his final paragraph,
    “This letter contains comments which should be construed as opinions of the author and other concerned citizens in the Town of Mammoth Lakes.  They are not intended to be interpreted as the official position of the Town Council of the Town of Mammoth Lakes.”
    However, Harvey then signed the letter,  “Town Councilman, Town of Mammoth Lakes.”
    His major concern is that crosswinds pose a danger—a position that Heller disputed vehemently.
    “We are located in a winter environment where hard surfaces can quickly ice over, blowing snow can cover a runway in a matter of minutes and strong gusts of wind in excess of 50 miles an hour are not uncommon,” Harvey wrote. “In the vicinity of the airport, the winds, more often then not, are direct crosswinds.”
    Replied Heller:
    “Wind studies conducted for our airport have demonstrated that crosswind conditions exist less than seven percent of the time.”
    Harvey also said that conditions in winter have the biggest crosswinds, but Heller countered that, saying,
    “The greatest crosswinds are recorded in later spring and early summer.”
Harvey saved his biggest allegation for last, writing,
    “It has always been my understanding that one of the primary functions of a federal agency, and especially the FAA, is to protect the public from unnecessary safety risks.  Please do not let the financial interests of a few people override the safety issues for the public.”
    Heller shot back, writing,
    “Your letter infers that operating Mammoth Yosemite Airport in winter conditions is somehow innately unsafe. Airports operate worldwide in winter conditions, with weather substantially more severe that ours.  There is a long record of how to properly operate and maintain airports in such locations. Your premise is incorrect, and your position is misleading.”