Lead is a neurotoxin, and when you breathe it in, it gets into your bloodstream and can cause all kinds of health problems, including brain damage. It’s no wonder leaded gasoline was banned in the US nearly 30 years ago. But that ban didn’t cover small aircraft fuel. Turns out, those small airplanes buzzing around recreational airports across the state and country still use leaded gas. The planes are spreading tiny lead particles over people’s backyards, water wells, playgrounds, soccer fields and waterways just about every time they fly.
It this episode, Amy talks with a small town Wisconsin lawmaker who is leading her community’s charge to get the lead our of our air. And she’s got an eye-opening study that shows how our drinking water could be at risk too.
Host:
Amy Barrilleaux
Guest:
Cynthia Richson, Town of Middleton, Wis., town board chair
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Transcript:
Amy Barrilleaux Hi there and welcome, I’m Amy Barrilleaux and this is the Defender Podcast where we talk about the biggest issues affecting Wisconsin’s environment and how you can plug in to defend our air, water, land and climate. The Defender is powered by Clean Wisconsin which has been working to protect our environment since 1970. On this episode we’re talking about a small Wisconsin town, 7 ,000 people, that’s fighting for big change to protect all of us from lead that’s falling from the sky.
Cynthia Richson You can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you can’t taste it. And by the time you’ve been cumulatively exposed, it’s too late, the harm is done.
Amy Barrilleaux The issue, leaded aviation gas. You might be thinking, we don’t use lead in gasoline anymore. That’s true, leaded gasoline was banned in the U .S. back in 1996 for some pretty obvious reasons. People were breathing in lead through car exhaust. It could get in their bloodstreams and cause lead poisoning which can damage the human brain and cause all kinds of other health problems. But there was a loophole back in 1996. That ban did not cover airplanes. We’re not talking about commercial jets which use jet fuel. We’re talking about the small fixed -wing planes buzzing around recreational airports mostly in rural communities across Wisconsin. Turns out those planes are still using leaded gas and they’re dropping lead particles from the sky over people’s backyards, water wells, playgrounds, soccer fields, all the time. My guest on the podcast has been working for years to get attention on this issue only to be largely stonewalled by small airports and pilots.
Cynthia Richson The pilots and the airport owners like you to think that you are alone, that you are the only one that is bothered by this issue and it’s really trivial and it’s nothing, which is not correct, it’s not accurate. There are many, many general aviation airports not only across the state of Wisconsin but across the country and there are many citizens like us who have become educated about this issue. The studies are overwhelming.
Amy Barrilleaux Yep, she’s got some eye -opening research conducted right here in Wisconsin that’s getting national attention on her side. We’ll talk all about it. That’s right now on The Defender. A recent study commissioned by the town of Middleton is raising new concerns about leaded aviation fuel or Avgas for short. The study has linked lead coming from small aircraft at the City of Middleton’s Morey Airport to drinking water contamination. You heard that right. Lead is falling from the sky, ending up in groundwater, then making its way into private drinking water wells. Joining me is Town of Middleton board chair Cynthia Richson, who has been spearheading an effort to raise awareness about the dangers of leaded aviation fuel. Cynthia, thank you so much for being here.
Cynthia Richson Thank you for having me.
Amy Barrilleaux So when did this issue of leaded aviation fuel get on your radar? Because I don’t think it’s something that people, you know, just go around thinking about every day or even know about. So how did it come into your life?
Cynthia Richson So in 2017, when I became the town of Middleton town board chair elected, we citizens, neighbors started to mention and notice in what seemed to be increased recreational aircraft noise coming out of the city of Middleton’s airport, which we refer to here as Maury Airport. The Maury family sold it to the city in 1998. And so that is what we started to kind of focus on at the town board level. And then that led to us trying to learn everything we could about piston engine aircraft, which is what they fly it mostly at the city of Middleton airport. And that led us to learning that they still use lead in their gasoline for the airplanes. And we were really surprised. And we have a physician on our board and he helped us connect with a local pediatrician who came and spoke to our board and helped us understand how bad lead exposure is, especially airborne lead because we didn’t know that when you breathe it in in the air, the particles are very, very tiny. They’re tinier than the lead particles when more than 25 years ago lead was in car gasoline. Those at least you had a chance, if you breathe some in your lungs, you could breathe some out. With these piston engine aircraft, tiny particles, once you breathe them in, they’re in and they go into your lungs and your bloodstream and they can breach the blood brain barrier and eventually settle in your bones. And the effects are cumulative. So, and according to the EPA, there is – even exposure to low levels of lead is very harmful to humans and others. So, then we hired Trinity Consultants, which was the firm that the EPA uses, because I sat on the airport commission for a year and then they decided not to renew me because they didn’t like hearing from members of the public about their concerns about this recreational airport. And the EPA had previously had a petition filed towards it to get a lead endangerment finding for leaded aviation gas. But it had never completely been approved and gone through the whole process. And so, when we would bring up our medical and scientific knowledge about how bad lead emissions are, the city of Middleton and the airport commission trivialized it. Oh, it’s such a small amount. So, then I worked with the DNR to get actual information, data from the EPA. And in 2017, 217 pounds of airborne lead was being emitted by recreational aircraft at the city of Middleton’s airport. Well, that’s not nothing. So, that led us to hire Trinity Consultants who actually did the modeling that the EPA uses, their methodology with the way they fly here. And they confirmed that there was airborne lead, what they call below the mixing height because of how they fly here. So, at such low altitudes and repetitively with student flight training, which Moery airplane company does. And then, the modeling, which is where most people stop because the testing is not inexpensive, and you have to have experts do it, they still, the city and the airport commission still trivialized our findings. So, we went the extra step, which most don’t do, and we actually put filters in the field. And the field testing confirmed the modeling results. And yes, indeed, we were being exposed every time, just about every time if they were below the mixing height, which most of these are. We were being exposed to airborne lead emissions from these airplanes using leaded aviation gas. So, it was very concerning to us. And so, again, we heard crickets from the city. We heard some, you know, remarks at the airport commission consistent with trivializing it. Oh, it’s not very much. Completely ignoring the science of cumulative exposure. And the ramifications are very serious because children 6 and under can permanently lose IQ points. And the other thing the city doesn’t acknowledge, but it’s a fact, they are downwind from this airport. So, they too are having impacts, even if they’re not flying over them at low altitudes as often as they may be to the west because of the winds and other factors. So, that led us to keep thinking, well, what else is happening at this airport that may be affecting us? So, the town of Middleton and the town of Springfield, which are adjacent to the city’s airport, we utilize private drinking water wells. And they have started this event in July before the Oshkosh Air Venture. And they invite all this flying traffic from all over the place, which, of course, is noisy and more lead pollution, et cetera. And so, in 2021, July 2021, they had live fireworks for the first time. And this is a really important wetland area. In fact, that’s what the city used to convince city residents to vote for them to buy it in 1998. We’ll preserve the open space in the wetlands. It’s also a water recharge area. And again, town of Middleton, town of Springfield utilize private drinking water wells. So, we hired USGS because I had seen, or we had seen an earlier study of Mount Rushmore where they just did fireworks once a year on 4th of July. And it contaminated all their drinking water, especially the perchlorate. It’s a very toxic chemical, heavy metal, I think. And so, we were very concerned. So, this was going to originally be a three -year study. But thankfully, after we commissioned this study, then the city decided not to have live fireworks out there anymore, thankfully. And they’ve had a laser light show ever since when they do this event. And so, as long as they were out there doing all this testing, and by the way, they did find perchlorate where the fireworks were launched a year later. So, this stuff doesn’t necessarily dissipate. Just like lead never dissipates. And as long as they were out there, we said, yes, test if you can see for leaded aviation gas isotopes because it has a specific fingerprint and you can distinguish it from other lead sources. And in the Town of Middleton, there really are no other lead sources. So, we said, yes, please do that. And so, six people volunteered anonymously, do no harm, is our thinking, and had their private drinking water wells tested. And two of them tested positive for the leaded avgas fingerprint. So, that’s very concerning. And the EPA is aware of this study. It’s apparently a first of its kind. And its significance is showing a relationship between the overflights with the airborne leaded aviation gas emissions working its way into the groundwater.
Amy Barrilleaux So, I’ve known about this issue for a few years because I work at Clean Wisconsin and we were pushing hard for that EPA endangerment finding, which did happen in 2023. The EPA basically recognized that lead emissions from small aircraft are a danger to public health. And I remember around that same time going to my son’s soccer game at a public field that’s directly next to the Middleton Airport. And so, I’m just trying to paint a picture of where this airport is located. So, you’ve got an airport, you’ve got public soccer fields, you’ve got a sports center, some natural areas, and then some homes. And what went through my mind when I was sitting there on the ground watching my son play soccer was, is this dangerous? There’s probably lead that has settled all over this field. There’s lead in the air every time a plane takes off. And does anybody here even realize it? So, when you talk about this issue to people and they haven’t heard about it before, what’s their reaction?
Cynthia Richson Well, at first they’re surprised and then you can see the wheels turn like, well, they don’t know if they believe it because you can’t smell it, you can’t see it, you can’t taste it. And by the time you’ve been cumulatively exposed, it’s too late, the harm is done. And the harm may not be demonstrated until sometime later when suddenly you have a problem learning or you have attention deficit disorder. There’s even a very good recent review of mental health issues that can be related to lead exposure. And for adults, it’s cardiovascular disease, hypertension, there’s a whole litany of very harmful things. So, primary prevention is really key. Reduce the exposure to the lead. And that’s the thing that is really concerning here is because September 1 of 2022, the FAA approved a drop in replacement of unleaded aviation gas that every fixed wing piston engine aircraft at this recreational airport could use and they won’t get it.
Amy Barrilleaux So, you know, I did a little bit of digging just generally on some aviation websites about why there’s so much opposition to switching to this fuel. And I think there’s a lot of reasons that I saw but it all boils down to money and cost, right? So it’s, they say it’s gonna be more expensive and they might need some engine upgrades or things like that. How does it make you feel when you come into folks with this information about contamination? There is no safe level of lead. And the response is basically all about money and cost.
Cynthia Richson Well, it tells you the mindset of the group we’re dealing with. The thing is, GAMI, that makes G100 unleaded aviation gas, number one, I know we can get it here at the Middleton Airport. I know we can get it in Wisconsin. We just have to have the will and somebody has to make the order to get it. But it’s, the other thing is, just on a technical level, is I understand that G100 unleaded avgas runs cleaner. You get better gas mileage and you have less maintenance. So overall, it’s a wash. So while initially, perhaps, and if you don’t order a large enough quantity, of course, the price gets less expensive the more you order. So for example, if Dane County Regional, Wisconsin Aviation, would also take an order of G100 unleaded, that would give you a bigger quantity with a lower price. And I’ve been told recently that it’s on par with leaded avgas pricing. And there’s two ways that the FAA can approve a new leaded or a new aviation fuel. One of them is by industry consensus called ASTM. And the other way, which is the way GAMI got the G100 unleaded, approved by the FAA in 2022, is by standard type certificate or STC. And basically, the FAA reviews the planes and they say, if you purchase this STC sticker and put it on the wings of your plane, it will tell everybody that that’s safe to use in this aircraft. So every fixed wing piston engine aircraft has been approved by the FAA to use G100 unleaded. And to incent others to get this new gas, GAMI was originally offering a 50 % discount on the purchase price of an STC, which I understand is a couple hundred dollars. It’s tied to the horsepower of your plane, as far as I know. And then they even went so far because they have in California the G100 unleaded, to rebate for the base aircraft at the Middleton Airport, which it varies. It’s about 93 right now, according to the last statistics I’ve seen. Piston engine aircraft, not all of them, but the majority, that they would rebate 100 % of the cost of the STC. So there are no more excuses and there’s no engine overhaul that needs to happen to use this gas. It’s a drop in replacement fuel.
Amy Barrilleaux So then why do you think there’s been so much resistance and it’s not just at the airport in Middleton. I think there’s been resistance all across the country, including in California, where they’ve just passed legislation to by, I think, 2031, ban leaded aviation fuel. But you’re still seeing people say, hey, you know what, we wanna keep this.
Cynthia Richson Again, it’s my understanding. It’s the industry protecting profits from the leaded aviation gas. There was a lawsuit in California, CEH. I think it stands for California Environmental Health. I think they reached a settlement agreement in 2014, where they named a number of fixed based operators or FBOs who actually sell leaded aviation gas at airports similar to what the Middleton’s Airport is in California. And the settlement agreement said, in effect, if and when a suitable replacement that’s unleaded becomes available and is commercially available, that you will sell only unleaded aviation gas because of all these health concerns. And so G100 unleaded got approved September, 2022 by the FAA. And lo and behold, the resistance started. Pilots didn’t want change. They didn’t want it. They started saying how you had to have a different fuel tank. Well, it’s drop in ready for the airplane and fuel tank. If you have, so for example, the city Middleton Airport has a 10 ,000 gallon leaded avgas tank. They could use it all up, put G100 unleaded in it and off they go. You can commingle it. There’s no safety issues there whatsoever. So CEH recently had to go back to court to enforce the settlement agreement. And so we’re watching that with great interest. There’s a hearing in February.
Amy Barrilleaux So what are the next steps for you? I think, you know, this is an issue that’s starting to get attention here, at least in the Middleton and Madison area. But it’s, you know, I guess hard to see change happening when you have airports with these small planes flying all across the state and we’re not seeing any big moves to do anything.
Cynthia Richson I think public pressure will be incredibly important. We’re trying to help educate Madison Dane County Public Health about this issue. We understand that the USGS water contamination avgas study finally it’s got their attention in an appropriate way. And I will say that this, the pilots and the airport owners like you to think that you are alone, that you are the only one that is bothered by this issue. And it’s really trivial and it’s nothing, which is not correct. It’s not accurate. There are many, many general aviation airports, not only across the state of Wisconsin, but across the country. And there are many citizens like us who have become educated about this issue. The studies are overwhelming. The EPA did make a lead endangerment finding on leaded aviation gas. And so that does trigger the FAA’s obligation to start looking at standards and regulation. They don’t need until 2030 because the solution is here already with G100 and leaded. And there may be others down the road. So I think as the public gets more informed and they understand, I mean, what is the price on a child losing IQ permanently for someone’s recreational hobby and a choice they’d rather not use on leaded F gas. That makes no sense.
Amy Barrilleaux Is it frustrating for you to see that we’re coming up on the 30th anniversary of banning leaded gasoline for cars and trucks and other vehicles. And we are currently working really hard to get lead water pipes out of cities and towns all across the state and country. And those things are a real focus. Lead paint is a real focus to get the lead out of our lives. And yet here we are sitting under falling lead from our airports and it doesn’t seem to be as big of a concern as those other things.
Cynthia Richson It doesn’t make any sense. I mean, we’re spending all this money to get the lead out of water pipes and lines, which we should. I mean, these are serious consequences. This leads to special education children that don’t need to become special education if you stop the exposure to lead to primary prevention. It’s the prevention efforts that need to be focused on. So I think the public needs to just contact their elected representatives. I do understand that representative Bare is looking at some type of legislation that he may introduce to incentivize airports in Wisconsin to or airports to switch over to unleaded Avgas. But frankly, that’s nice and that’s good. And we support that. If that’s what he continues to focus on, but the time is now.
Amy Barrilleaux Cynthia Richson, board chair at the Town of Middleton. Thank you so much for talking with me about this issue. And we’ll keep in touch as this whole issue progresses.
Cynthia Richson Thank you very much.
Amy Barrilleaux For more information about the dangers of leaded aviation fuel, head to our website, cleanwisconsin.org and click on the podcast page. And if there’s an issue you want us to talk about here on the podcast or a question you’d like answered, send me an email, podcast@cleanwisconsin .org. Thank you for listening to the Defender. I’m Amy Barrilleaux, until next time.
