Weis Radio News has obtained a copy of a letter from State Fire Marshal Ed Paulk, that was sent following his September 24th (2013) visit to Cherokee County in order to inspect the fuel system at the Centre-Piedmont-Cherokee County Regional Airport.

In that letter – he stated that he had inspected the fuel system installed at the airport at the request of Garver Engineering and he added that the Department of Weights & Measures was there at the same time conducting a test of the system.

Paulk stated that he obtained, and reviewed, the general design specifications issued by Garver as the Engineer of Record for the facility.  As outlined in the letter specifications require the fueling facility to be the design of a manufacturer engaged on a regular basis in the fabrication of aircraft fueling facilities – and that it be factory built and assembled equipment.

Paulk went on to say that he hadn’t been able to see the design drawings for the fueling system at the location, and these design drawings were not approved, as required.

Specific notations included that an examination of that fueling system, revealed that the tank was not properly attached to the foundation, upon which that tank was placed / the mounting brackets were not properly attached to the foundation / the fuel line supports were not properly supported, or the supports were not mounted to the foundation.

Furthermore, it was noted that the filter vessel mounted on the fueling system does not match the vessel listed on the submittal for the project – and the filter vessel installed in the system, appears to be a surplus part, with a portion of its manufacturers’ data plate or tag missing.

The letter goes on to say that the item does not meet the requirements of the design criteria of the General Specifications as produced by Garver Engineering.

Other problems were noted in the letter, and Fire Marshal Paulk stated that he had observed other conditions on the system which he questioned however he added that until he could see the intent of the designing engineer, he would withhold comment.

The letter finished by saying that the fuel system isn’t approved for use, until the design plans are made available for review and confirmation that the unit has been constructed in accordance with approved plans.

The projected completion date for the fuel system was April 15th of 2012, and at this point, some 17 months later – it remains unclear when the system will be functional.

In addition to Garver Engineering those involved in the airport project include – Harley McGatha Construction and sub-contractor M&W Equipment out of Huntsville.

We’ll have more on this on-going story as information becomes available.