Aircraft-Painting Structure Backed for Edwards

Edwards Air Force Base needs a new $7-million structure for painting aircraft and equipment to replace facilities that now “allow dangerous organic compounds to escape into the air,” Rep. William M. Thomas (R-Bakersfield) said this week.

The House of Representatives included money for the aircraft corrosion facility in the $3.3-billion military construction appropriations bill it passed on July 30. Edwards, near Lancaster, is the nation’s top installation for testing military planes. Edwards has been unsuccessfully seeking funds for the new facility since 1977, a base spokesman said.

Money for the structure was not included in the Senate version of the military construction spending bill. House and Senate negotiators must reconcile the two measures.

“The current facilities are woefully insufficient and allow dangerous organic compounds to escape into the air,” said Thomas, whose sprawling 20th District includes most of Edwards. “These airborne solvents also contribute to the decreased visibility, which is a serious concern for base flight-test managers.”

Small equipment is now painted at Edwards in a metal building with “an inadequate ventilation system and no environmental controls,” said Dennis Shoffner, an Edwards spokesman. Touch-up painting on aircraft is done in small paint booths and a large hangar, Shoffner added.

Shoffner said outdoor aircraft corrosion work was stopped after it was “determined to be in violation of the federal Clean Air Act.” He said he did not know when that occurred. Major paint jobs are now done off the base or not at all.

Also, anticipated revisions of the Clean Air Act could eventually force Edwards to upgrade its facilities, Shoffner said.

Clifton Calderwood, manager of compliance for the Kern County Air Pollution Control District, which includes Edwards, said Friday that the base’s paint booths have permits from the district. “We’re not aware of any difficulties” with the base, he said.

The proposed corrosion building would save the government nearly $500,000 annually in operations and maintenance expenses, Thomas said. The annual cost of conducting the aircraft painting off the base is about $752,000; that figure would be reduced to about $264,000 with the new structure, Shoffner said. This would also decrease downtime for the aircraft, officials said.

Plans for the new facility call for a 30,000-square-foot structure with a concrete floor, a steel hangar and translucent panels. The price tag includes an environmental control system to recover paint fumes and a ventilation system to handle toxic chemicals, Shoffner said.