Mining Funds Would Pay For MIA Renovations, Airport Improvements

This one sounds like something of an ill-considered joke... but it's for real, and no one is laughing. As bills mount over still-uncompleted renovations to Miami International Airport's north and south terminals, the folks who run MIA are hungry for cash... and they think they've found an answer: turn the Opa-locka West airport (X46) into a limerock mine.

The Miami Herald reports officials at the Miami-Dade Aviation Department (MDAD) -- based at MIA -- say the small two-runway airport -- which has been unattended since Hurricane Wilma last year, and is now used for touch-and-go training operations -- is seldom used, and is far more valuable as a source for minerals needed to make concrete and roadfill.

"It's good to have more runways than less, yes, but our airport is financially stressed," said Miami-Dade County aviation director Jose Abreu, whose last job was Secretary of the Florida Department of Transportation.

Depending on quality (no studies have been conducted yet, and none will be until the airport is closed), the minerals in the ground underneath the field could be worth anywhere from $300 million to $1.2 billion -- money that MIA says it needs to complete the terminal renovations, as well as for road projects around MIA and extending runways at Miami Kendall-Tamiami Executive Airport (KTMB) and Homestead General Airport (X51) for jet operations.

Furthermore, the rock could be worth even more to the Florida Department of Transportation -- especially as a federal judge is now reviewing FDOT's current source of the material, the so-called "Lake Belt", for possible environmental impact violations.

"It's an idea that's worth pursuing because we've seen enormous cost increases [in rock]," said current FDOT Secretary Denver Stutler to the Herald.

Before mining begins at X46, however, the Federal Aviation Administration has to grant permission to close the airport... and several groups have petitioned the FAA to keep Opa-locka West open.

In a recent letter to the agency, the Opa-locka Airport Association accused MDAD of allowing Opa-locka West -- as well as the larger Opa-locka Airport (KOPF) located 10 miles away -- fall into disrepair.

"The reality is that Miami-Dade has intentionally created an artificial argument that X46 no longer has aeronautical use nor is needed," wrote the group. "...In the simplest of terms it is Miami-Dade County's version of having your cake and eating too."

Closing Opa-locka West would mean the loss of the only open North-South runway in the county -- as runway 18/36 at KOPF has been closed by the placement of a temporary tower nearby.

Abreu maintains the loss of a training airport would mean little to pilots in the area, since flight simulators located at area training schools has lessened the need for touch-and-go landings at Opa-locka West. Abreu adds that pilots training in real, live aircraft could use Dade-Collier Training and Transition Airport (KTNT), located 30 miles west of X46 in the Everglades.

One of the most vocal opponents to closing Opa-locka West is the Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA). The group says X46 is not just a training airport -- but is also used by recreational flyers, and pilots of ultralights and light-sport aircraft. Opa-locka West is also the only untowered field in the northern part of the county.

"One of EAA’s core values is to seek the continued availability and access to general/recreational aviation facilities," said Randy Hansen, EAA government relations director. "It is very disturbing to EAA when a major aviation management group like MDAD ignores the very grassroots aviation activities that create today’s, and tomorrow’s cadre of professional pilots."

"Without facilities like Opa-Locka West, the national pilot development program and their access to flight activities are put at risk," Hansen added.

The EAA has petitioned the FAA to turn Opa-locka West into a recreational airpark, instead of allowing it to become a stripmine.

Officials with MDAD say Opa-locka West is hard to keep maintained, and is used more often for illegal drag races than airport operations.

FAA Southern Division Manager Randy Chapman says the agency understands that West Opa-locka isn't used very often, "But the FAA prefers that airports not close." Chapman added the agency has "received a lot of complaints" about closing the field, "including aircraft owners and pilots."

The FAA is expected to rule on the matter shortly.

FMI: www.miami-airport.com, www.eaa.org