Beverage

LA GRANDE — The La Grande/Union County Airport is set to receive a series of upgrades.

The Union County Board of Commissioners voted 3-0 Wednesday, Dec. 6, to award a total bid of $959,966 to Anderson Environmental Contracting, of Kelso, Washington, to replace two fuel tanks and to install new lighting at the airport.

The tanks to be replaced are tanks 1 and 2. Tank 2 will be replaced by a tank that will hold 10,000 gallons of Jet A fuel instead of the general aviation fuel the present one holds now. This will add to the two other 10,000-gallon tanks the airport already has for Jet A fuel.

Commissioner Donna Beverage said the greater capacity for Jet A fuel will be a big plus during the summer whenever there is an outbreak of wildfires and many planes with jet engines being used to fight the fires are flying into the airport to get refueled. The new Jet A fuel tank will make it easier for the airport to have fuel immediately available for those aircraft fighting fires.

Beverage said if the airport runs out of Jet A fuel it would cause problems because it is often difficult to get shipments quickly.

“It is hard to get it in a timely manner,” she said.

The replacement for Tank 1 will be used for general aviation fuels, just as the present tank does now. The new Tank 1 will be a higher quality tank than the one now in place, Beverage said.

The costs for replacing the tanks will be $230,855 for Tank 1 and $639,215 for Tank 2, according to Doug Wright, the director of the La Grande/Union County Airport and Union County’s public works director. Wright said the cost of replacing Tank 2 will be higher because of additional plumbing work.

The cost of both tank replacements will be covered by funding from Connect Oregon, a coordinated care network consisting of health care, government, nonprofit and other organizations.

Anderson Environmental Contracting will also be responsible for installing new lighting for the U.S. Forest Service apron next to the Blue Mountain Dispatch Center office adjacent to the La Grande/Union County Airport. The lighting work will cost $89,895 and will be paid for by the U.S. Forest Service as part of a lease agreement it has with Union County.

Wright said the tank replacement and lighting work should be completed by July.