Pilots Say Stacks Reduce Usability Of Burley Airport

The president of the Burley Airport Users Association in Burley, ID has written a letter to Burley City Administrator Mark Mitton concerning smokestacks that are being installed on a business near the airport.

The stacks were approved for a potato processing plant owned by Gem State in Heyburn, ID. Mitton responded in an email that “We did not know that Gem State had any plans to install additional stacks at their facility in Heyburn. We were advised last week of what was happening. Gem State did not advise the city of Burley or Heyburn or Minidoka County of their plans.”

The Times-News newspaper reports that Jack Hunsaker, the president of the airport users association said that a three-sentence email claiming ignorance is not sufficient. He says that the smokestacks may interfere with approaches and departures from the municipal airport. He said the city, which is the sponsoring agency for the airport, is the only entity that can stop the installation.

The general manager of the Gem State dehydration plant was replacing temporary stacks with permanent fixtures, part of a planned expansion partially funded by a block grant from the city. Some of those stacks are 10 feet taller than the temporary stacks, and are of a larger diameter, according to plant manager Bill Schow.

Schow said the company had completed the FAA's required paperwork at the agency's request. Steve Engebrecht, the FAA's lead civil engineer in Helena, MT said that it is not yet known how the larger stacks will affect the airport. He said the FAA will do an aeronautic study to determine those impacts, if any. That study will take about 45 days to complete, Engebrecht said. He said that the pilots have a "valid concern," but it is not yet known if that concern is warranted.

Hunsaker said that the airport users understand that Burley has a goal of replacing the airport, but that it will take years for that relocation to take place, and that the current airport cannot remain operational if the city continues to allow development nearby.

FMI: www.faa.gov