DUMAS’ MOORE COUNIY AIRPORT SERVES THE LOCAL ECONOMY AND FLYING PUBLIC WITH QUALIIY FACILITIES AND AFFORDABLE FUEL-BUT IT’S ALSO AN OUTPOST THAT CAN HELP SAVE LIVES. AND JUST LAST YEAR, IT DID.
By Brandon V. Webb,
Texas Transportation Institute
It was cold that morning. Temperatures hovered in the mid-20s as workers headed to the Valero McKee refinery in Sunray, Texas. The vital facility in the Valero family of refineries outputs more than 170,000 barrels’ worth of refined petroleum every day.
It was a Friday. February 16, 2007. By 2:00 that afternoon temperatures had edged up to the mid-50s and would crest over 60 degrees by the end of the day. Thoughts were on the weekend, which promised cool, clear, breezy weather. And then, just minutes after 2:00 pm, all hell broke loose.
The refinery’s propane de-asphalting unit, which processes residual fuel at very high temperatures, exploded in Rames, belching a column of smoke into the sky that was visible for more than 60 miles that might as well be beyond the horizon in the Texas Panhandle.
Four-hundred employees Red for their lives. The explosion injured 20 people with burns, smoke inhalation and chest pains. Imagine that scene viewed from the runway at Moore County Airport, which has a bird’s-eye view cross-country of the McKee refinery. You’re standing there watching a piece of the county go up in Rames. And then the radio comes to life.
Brandon Cox, Moore County’s airport manager, said Valero responded to the explosion immediately.
“Within minutes, Valero had refinery firefighters in the air in a King Air 350,” Cox says. “King Airs kept coming in from San Antonio, where Valero is headquartered. Helicopters landed here and flew patients to Lubbock and Amarillo for medical attention. They flew in here all that night.”
While it seems obvious that airports exist to serve, events like the Valero McKee refinery fire highlight how critical minutes-seconds-con be when lives are on the line. Dumas is 50 miles north of the region’s largest airport in Amarillo. But the refinery sits only a few minutes by car from the end of Moore County Airport’s runways. When the refinery exploded that February afternoon, the airport and its manager showed their readiness to serve-and serve quickly.
Better service for bigger jets
The Moore County Airport’s importance extends beyond Valero to the county, the Swift Meat Packing company-the area’s largest employer-United Supermarkets, and to Monsanto-the behemoth agriculture company.
“Swift, Valero, and the others-they fly here for the speed and convenience,” Cox Says.
Getting employees, contractors and ports into the airport’s 5,474-foot runway is about to get a boost, too, with a Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) grant to extend one of two runways to 6,000 feet and widen its shoulders to 100 feet.
“Valero’s new planes, a [Gulfstream] G550 and a G450, can’t come in here right now,” Cox says. “They’re going to Amarillo to land and then driving from there. You’re talking an hour-and-a-half drive instead of 20 minutes. Three hours out of their day, they’re driving. If we extend the runway, they can get parts and employees flown in here. I’d say 60 to 70 percent of our big airplanes ore going out to Valero, and we’re getting bigger Citations, Lears and lots of King Airs. If Valero wasn’t here, we probably wouldn’t have half of our big plane traffic-they’re just huge for us.”
Dave Fulton, director of TxDOT’s Aviation Division, says Valero is playing a key role in the runway expansion effort.
“The $6 million upgrade project will allow Valera’s large jets to fly directly from San Antonio to Dumas,” says Fulton. ”Valero has agreed to contribute $500,000 to the project.”
Cox also attributes steady airport traffic to competitive fuel prices he’s using to start snagging transient jet traffic traveling cross-country and looking for a bargain on fuel.
