Million Air's plan for Pease submitted. It faces opposition from competitor, community

PORTSMOUTH — Million Air Portsmouth’s proposed project would feature "the construction of a new two-story fixed base operator (FBO) facility with an attached hangar for aircraft storage” at the airport at Pease, according to documents recently filed with the Pease Development Authority.

“The proposed building footprint is 21,240 square feet with a total of 25,000 square feet” for the entire development, according to a project memo and site plan submitted to the PDA by Hoyle, Tanner & Associated Inc. on behalf of Million Air, which also operates as Pease Aviation Partners LLC.

The project will also include a “new state-of-the art fuel farm located to the northeast of the hangar,” according to the project memo.

The fuel farm would include “two 30,000 gallon Jet A (jet fuel) tanks, space for a future 30,000 gallon Jet A tank, a 15,000 gallon AV gas tank (aviation gasoline),” the memo states.

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“Extensive safety measures are included in the design to protect the surrounding areas in the unforeseen event of a spill,” according to Shawn Tobey of Hoyle, Tanner & Associated Inc. “As a first measure, all fuel tanks are double walled and will have above ground piping with a concrete equipment pad surrounded by a concrete containment wall.”

In addition to the hangar space and fuel farm, the Million Air development off Exeter Street will feature on-site offices and customer service space, and aircraft, fuel truck and employee and customer parking.

Million Air's plan faces opposition

The proposed development has led to some opposition, including from Port City Air, Pease’s only fixed-based operator at the Portsmouth International Airport at Pease.

Port City Air is a direct abutter to the proposed Million Air development.

Paul Brean, the executive director of the Pease Development Authority, described a fixed base operator as “an entity on the airfield that services the aircraft’s and the crew’s needs,” which includes anything from selling the fuel for the planes to offering hangar space for the aircraft.

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Port City Air is appealing the decision by the N.H. Department of Environmental Services (DES) to grant Million Air a wetlands permit for the project.

Dan Hoefle, who is one of the attorneys representing Port City Air, said the hearing on the appeal is not expected to happen until December or January.

Hoefle was one of several speakers who appeared at a press conference Thursday morning in Portsmouth to raise concerns about Million Air’s development and/or the location of the project.

Fuel spill concerns raised

Several speakers in the press conference pointed to the harm that could be done if there’s a fuel spill on the site.

Hoefle noted there have been spills at Pease before and Port City Air is “just trying to prevent something from happening in this environmentally sacrosanct area of the wetlands.”

“We don’t want to add more problems than what’s already happened out there,” he added during an interview after Thursday’s press conference.

Thousands of people — including children and infants attending two day-care facilities at the Pease International Tradeport — were exposed to PFAS chemicals in the Haven well until it was shut down by the city in 2014.

Hoefle said Port City Air values “good competition but this location (for the Million Air development) is not right.”

“This is about the environment today and protecting it, because once a spill happens it’s too late,” Hoefle said.

The PDA’s Board of Directors still has to approve Million Air’s site plan for the project and agree on a lease, but that vote has not yet been scheduled, Brean said.

A call to slow things down

Asked what he wants the PDA to do, Hoefle said, “I hope that they take this application with some caution, and slow it down and allow access to third party independent investigators on the site to conduct their own studies.”

Rye resident Dania Seiglie appeared at Thursday’s press conference to “express alarm” about Million Air’s project.

The event was held at Paul McEachern Park, which is located adjacent to the North Mill Pond, she said, because “the decisions and actions” made at the Pease International Tradeport can “impact water quality here.”

A spill at the Million Air site could connect “directly to North Mill Pond via Hodgson’s Brook and from there contamination will easily reach the Piscataqua,” Seiglie said.

She asked Million Air to “pick another site” at Pease for their development.

“Accidents sadly do happen, and even more sadly, they have happened,” she said.

State Rep. Debra Altschiller, D-Stratham, said during the press conference, “Right now it is essential that we pump the brakes. I urge the Pease Development Authority to double down on conducting their due diligence."

She pointed to Million Air’s proposal for a “fuel tank farm just 100 feet from a wetland,” and stated “we cannot take on this risk without a true and thought assessment of the potential damage to our Seacoast.”

Chuck Suma, the chief operating officer of Million Air, could not be immediately reached for comment Thursday.

But told the concerns raised about Million Air, Brean stated that “the Pease Development Authority has been very impressed with their state-of-the art proposal for a 60,000 gallon fuel farm.”

“It would be the most state-of-the art system on the field and we feel very comfortable with the amount of safety measures incorporated into the design,” he said Thursday.

He noted that anyone applying as a FBO at the airport “is required to have fuel farm.”

“Port City Air has an existing fuel farm that they own and operate and they also have a fuel farm that they lease from the PDA,” Brean said.

The Air National Guard also has a larger capacity fuel farm on site, he added.

Fuel is part of airport business

Asked about concerns raised about a potential fuel spill at the airport, Brean said, “Aviation has a long history of handling petroleum products.”

“We currently operate multiple fuel farms at the airport and there is a high level of inspection, and oversight of these farms,” he said.

Adding a second FBO at the airport would “strengthen the amenities here for multiple enterprises,” Brean said.

Editor's note: State Rep. Debra Altschiller is the wife of Howard Altschiller, Seacoast Media Group's executive editor.

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Million Air plan for Pease airport in Portsmouth NH faces opposition