Evening star., 1948-05-05
Pepco Plant TO Impair
Airport's Usefulness,
Officials Charge
By W. H. Shippen. Jr.
Aviotion Editor Of The Stor

AVioton Editor of The Stor
A controversy which may have
to 60 all the way to Congress for
solution was raging behind
closed doors today over the
question of whether the $21,-
100000 power plant under con-
Struction at Alexandria. with
stacks to be at least 1913 feet
high, will seriously impair the
usefulness of National Airport.
Federal and commercial aviation
officials contend the stacks of the
giant steam generating unit will halt
development of all-Weather flying
at National and eventually reduce
1t to a second-rate airport by i'm
peding traffic on the vital instru-
ment approach zone from the South.
On the other hand, spokesmen for
the Potomac Electric Power Co.
point out the plant is situated on
the western edge of an approach
zone which was widened to $500
feet after the power company was
committed to the project. The
plant is going up on the Potomac
bank in Northeast Alexandria, 5000
feet south of the southern end of
Nationals main north-south run
way.
Foundations have been completed
and steel is being erected at con-
struction cost to date of about ST.
250,000. The subsidiary company,
Braddock Light & Power Co, which
will sell current to Pepco for distri-
button through its entire system,
already has contracted for addi-
tional millions in equipment, it was
said.
Civil Aeronautics. Administration
officials said they opposed location
OF the plant so near the approach
as far back as 1912. at a zoning
hearing before the Alexandria City
Council Application for rezoning
to permit the development. however,
eventually was granted. This was
while the propect was still in the
early planning stages, it was said
Pepco officials say that the ap-
proach zone, as defined by two lines
which converge on the runway, was
Widened later after new instrument
landing systems and ground ap-
proach radar were installed at the
airport for bad weather landings.
They pointed out they moved the
original site back some 200 feet and
offered to lower the height of the
stacks.
See Pay Loads Diverted.
Experts at the Air Transport As
sociation, the trade group for GER
tificated airlines. insist that even
the lowest height of some 1873 feet
for the stacks would force the rails
ing of ceiling minimums and divert
at least s2,000,000 in pay loads from
National Airport each year.
The Alta and CAA have at least
the partial backing of the Air Force
and Navy, since both services fly
transports into National and use
Nationals facilities for some instru-
ment approaches to Boiling and
Anacostia fields. It was pointed out
the Presidents aircraft and many
heavy transports from overseas use
aids at National.
Since the war more than $500, 900
has been spent to improve naviga-
ton at National and increase the
reliability OF schedules-perhaps the
toughest problem now faced by the
airlines.
Virtually all airlines operating
from here have qualified to use the
instrument landing system under
lower ceilings. The restrictions under
which planes can operate in and
out of National in poor visibility
were to be relaxed further as fast
as new instruments and training
processes proved their reliability.
Predict Raise in Minimums.
Technical experts are convinced
the proposed obstruction on the edge
of the approach and in the turning
area will raise these minimums at a
time when they are being lowered
everywhere else. Planes in inter-
national and transcontinental opera
tions would be particularly affected
and would be forced to pass up
National it was said.
The matter was discussed yester-
day by technical subcommittee of
the Air Co-ordinating Committee,
which co-ordinates Federal air
policy. The committee was under
stood to have prepared a letter to
Pepco for approval of the policy
group which would request that
on the power plant be
halted until the whole matter can
be settled. Committee members
would not verify this, however
pending higher action.
Bills were introduced in the House
and Senate recently to give the
civil aeronautics administrator power |
to enjoin the erection of traffic |
on or near Federal airways. |
At present there Is no Federal au-
thority to take such action.