Activists, residents near Austin airport tank farm site take FAA to court over project

After the city of Austin rejected efforts to move Austin-Bergstrom International Airport's planned jet fuel depot away from neighboring Southeast Austin homes and businesses, residents and activists are going to court.

A group of residents and an environmental justice group, who for months have raised health and environmental concerns about the fuel tank farm, have filed a lawsuit against the Federal Aviation Administration.

The fuel would be stored on airport property, but the tank farm would be built along U.S. 183, across the highway from people wo live and work in the area between McCall Lane and Metropolis Drive.

The lawsuit is asking the court to set aside an FAA order issued April 8, 2020, that approved a finding of "no significant impact" by the fuel tanks after an environmental assessment was provided by the airport, airlines and a team of consultants. The suit also asks for a new FAA review of the project.

The petition for review was filed May 27 in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and names the Southeast Austin Neighbors and Residents Organized for Environmental Justice, or SANAR, and People Organized in Defense of the Earth and Her Resources, or PODER, as the petitioners.

'This is wrong': Southeast Austin residents want city to move planned jet fuel tank farm

More: Jet fuel depot delay would stall response to growth, airport officials warn Austin leaders

According to the FAA's website, proposed actions and decisions related to airport environmental documents by FAA officials are subject to review under the National Environmental Policy Act.

"Once the FAA determines that NEPA applies, it needs to determine the appropriate level of review. The types of review differ based on FAA's determination of the potential for significant impacts," the website states.

The FAA's April 8, 2020. order for the jet fuel tank farm found "no significant impact" to air quality, biological resources, climate, farmlands, flood plains, historical, architectural, archaeological, cultural resources, natural resources and energy supply, among others.

But attorneys representing the residents said the environmental assessment did not meet NEPA's requirements.

Marisa Perales of Perales, Allmon & Ice P.C., and one of the attorneys representing the residents and PODER, said a number of analyses required by NEPA were not included in the assessment.

"An example would be an analysis of alternatives to the proposed project's location. Taking a hard look at other possible alternatives," Perales said. "There's no environmental justice analysis included there. There was no public outreach. Those are things that are required by NEPA, and those are things that we've pointed out in the past and that the residents have pointed out in the past that were missing from the environmental assessment."

In an emailed statement to the American-Statesman, FAA officials said the administration does not comment on litigation "nor do we select fuel tank locations."

Austin fuel tank farm construction underway

Construction of the jet fuel depot, which in its first construction phase is set to have two tanks storing 1.5 million gallons of Jet A fuel each, began in April. But its construction did not begin without pushback from residents and environmental groups.

Last fall, Southeast Austin residents living near the jet fuel depot site began protesting the airport's plans to build the tank farm within walking distance of their homes on McCall Lane and Seeling Drive. Residents from the Colorado Crossings subdivision, about a mile from the site, also joined the protests, which included meetings with airport and city officials, gathering signatures opposing the plans, and speaking up at City Council meetings.

More: Jet fuel tanks are going up near a Southeast Austin community. Now, neighbors are taking action

Several residents in the area told the Statesman they were never informed of the airport's plans to build the tank farm, which is part of the airport's expansion plans.

Airport officials said residents were notified of the project in 2017 and 2018 through mailings, community meetings and signs placed in the area. A year ago this month, a notice of the site plan for the tank farm by the city's Development Services Department was sent to property owners and residents with Austin utility account addresses within 500 feet of the development.

Resident living near Austin airport tank site says she's 'fighting for my family'

Alicia Trejo, vice president of SANAR and who lives on Seeling Drive, said neighborhood residents are not giving up and will keep pushing back against the construction of the jet fuel depot.

Trejo's family is one of many in the area who have raised health and environmental concerns. Her family could not afford to move, she said.

"I am going to keep fighting for my family," Trejo said in Spanish. "My family worked really hard to be able to move to this neighborhood and to own a home here. This took years."

More: City Council rejects bid to move airport jet fuel tank farm away from Southeast Austin neighbors

In a memorandum sent in March to Mayor Steve Adler and council members, Aviation Department CEO Jacqueline Yaft said, "any further analysis will lead to no alternative site meeting the screening criteria."

In April, the city of Austin rejected efforts to halt construction and efforts to find alternative locations for the project away from homes and businesses. Soon after, construction of the jet fuel tank farm began. It is set to be completed within two years.

"We remain committed to working together with our community, City Council, and airport business partners to achieve a world-class airport that is safe and environmentally sound for all,” Austin-Bergstrom officials said in a statement Tuesday.

Fight for healthy communities in Austin

Alexia Leclercq, a researcher and organizer with PODER, said the Latino-led environmental justice group will continue to support Southeast Austin residents as they fight the construction of the jet fuel depot.

In the early 1990s, PODER and the East Austin Strategy Team, a coalition of Black neighborhood associations, played a prominent role in closing a tank farm on a 52-acre site near Airport Boulevard and Springdale Road. It took 15 years of remediation before the site was deemed usable again.

PODER later lobbied the city to close a power plant in the Holly Street neighborhood in 2007 and to study East Austin zoning patterns.

"It's shocking to see history repeat itself," Leclercq said. "Back then, they also had to sue the oil corporations, and I hope that the city of Austin can learn that we will fight back and we will take things into our own hands to make sure that we have healthy communities free from toxic waste and from toxic chemicals and pollution."

Austin American-Statesman reporter Natalia Contreras can be reached at 512-626-4036 or ncontreras@statesman.com. Follow her on Twitter and Facebook, @NataliaECG.

This article originally appeared on Austin American-Statesman: FAA sued by activists, residents near Austin airport tank farm site