County’s McClellan-Palomar Airport in Carlsbad has one runway. Its east end nestles against the Palomar landfill that had an underground fire in the 2000s. County spent nearly a year snuffing the flames with chemicals pumped underground. Below the unpaved landfill surface sits methane gas collection piping. Why? Because rotting trash makes highly explosive methane gas, a major contributor to global warming if it escapes into the air.
A simple question arises. If an American Airlines flight with many passengers aboard crashed into the runway east end landfill area, would the methane gas collection system turn a life-threatening crash into a catastrophe? Have American Airlines (AA), and the FAA, and the county examined the risk? Have they disclosed the risks to the AA insurance carriers?
The 2022 FOIA & 2023 FAA FOIA Answer
Find out what's happening in Carlsbadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
In May 2022, this author asked the FAA to produce its records showing how the FAA has analyzed Palomar landfill crash risks. In January 2023, the FAA said it was producing 3 records totaling 517 pages discussing the safety issue. The FAA was to give a CD with the records on it. The records are still missing.
The Missing County CEQA and Missing FAA NEPA AA Analysis
Find out what's happening in Carlsbadfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) [County says] requires only environmental, not safety analysis. In contrast, the federal National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) requires both. Where are the CEQA and NEPA studies that analyze both the environmental and safety issues of AA operating at Palomar?
Do the FAA and AA Care About Safety?
In the last year, news articles have noted that few airlines include an epipen in their onboard aircraft medical kit. An epipen costs a few bucks and can save the life of a passenger experiencing allergic reactions. Reportedly, after hearing about such an incident, Senator Schumer called upon the FAA to ask for epipens in the aircraft medical kits. If the FAA and airline overlook such a simple issue, can we trust them to look at the bigger issues?
FAA, County & AA: Do the Right Thing: Prepare the CEQA and NEPA analysis. Provide the public the 517 pages noted above that allegedly discuss Palomar safety issues. And if airfield modifications are needed to make AA flights safe, make them. And make sure the AA insurance carriers have been advised of all Palomar special issues. A failure to disclose significant liability risks to the insurance carrier could be a basis for the carrier to deny coverage if an accident occurred related to the landfill.
