North Central West Virginia Airport Considers Assisting Aurora Flight Sciences with Fire Suppression

Oct. 18—BRIDGEPORT — The Benedum Airport Authority took care of several housekeeping matters at its meeting on Tuesday in Bridgeport. The main topic of discussion was working out a deal with Aurora Flight Sciences, which is currently in the midst on an expansion project next to the airport.

"We have some construction going on outside the fence of our airport and they are trying to get a January start date," Richard Rock, director of the North Central West Virginia Airport and board member, said. "They need to tap into a fire suppression system within airport grounds on a temporary basis so they can construct a permanent fire suppression system for themselves."

Rock said the authority is considering the matter because it's a way to help out a fellow member of the aerospace industry.

Aurora initially designed their expansion to work using the city's water supply, board member Andy Lang said.

Aurora designed a standard fire suppression system that fell in line with the city's requirements. However, after arriving at the final design, they discovered that the amount and location of the nozzles for the fire suppression system required more water pressure than what was available through the city's taps.

"It's been kind of an ongoing process because there's such a hurry to get the facility up because of the program they have coming up," Lang said to the board. "That's why they need to tie into our systems, to provide what they need and as soon as they get their own fire pumps in, they will take the water directly from the city like they do now."

However, before the airport can hand some of its water over to Aurora, they need to decide how much to charge in water usage fees and define the actual terms of the agreement first. One concern a board member brought up was damage to the airport's water lines, since the pressures that Aurora's system calls for are much higher than what the airport's systems are used to.

Board President David Hinkle asked that the agreement be updated to include the board's concerns about damage or liability. However, he moved to have the board approve the draft as it is presented in order to begin hammering out the final version of the draft with Aurora, which the board hopes will cover the water costs of tying into the system as well as covering the airport's liability.

The board also heard from Brad Gilbert and Joel Kirk. Gilbert is the director of the Aviation Technology Program at Pierpont Community and Technical College and Kirk is the director and chief instructor at Fairmont State University's Aviation Center of Excellence.

Gilbert reported that the Girls in Aviation Day that the industry recently held was a big success. As if to underscore the growing presence of women in the aviation field, Kirk followed up in his report that more than half of his incoming freshman class this year was filled with women.

"We've never had that, usually it's one or two," Kirk said.

However, Kirk also pointed out that there is a designated pilot examiner shortage, which could bottleneck some of his and others efforts to get more pilots into the industry here in West Virginia. Currently, there's only two in the entire state, he said.

Both educators were lauded by the board for their efforts to contribute to aerospace education.

Finally, the board went into executive session to discuss a few matters, including a pending lawsuit. According to court filings, the Maple Lake Club, a homeowners association, is suing the Benedum Airport Authority, Wolfe's Excavating and The Thrasher Group, claiming negligence and interference with Riparian Rights/Unreasonable use of land, and creating a private nuisance.

The lawsuit boils down to the work that the airport is doing to build a new terminal and AeroTech Park. In order to prepare the land for the construction work, three million cubic feet of dirt first had to be moved in order to produce the flatland necessary for the build. The plaintiff alleges that the defendants didn't properly manage the project, resulting in numerous violations from the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection being issued to Benedum Airport.

Stormwater runoff from the site polluted Maple Lake, which sits below, according to court documents. The lawsuit states that the plaintiffs have suffered floods, loss of property, diminution in value, sediment reclamation and ongoing reclamation.

In its response to the lawsuit, the airport authority said in its filing that it reserves the defense that it acted with due care. The phrase, "not being fully advised of all the circumstances surrounding the allegations set forth in the Complaint," reoccur multiple times. It also denies any allegations that the airport engaged in any negligence or carelessness.

The suit was filed by Maple Lake Club last March. The airport's counsel responsed at the end of May.

The next meeting of the board is in November.

Reach Esteban at [email protected]

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