New above-ground jet fuel tanks land at county airport

Big things were flying around at the Converse County Municipal Airport last week — yet it wasn’t Santa or your Uncle Harry in his two-seater. But it was kind of like Santa delivering a much-needed gift.

On the morning of Dec. 23, the airport received a shipment of new gas tanks as they work to update their fuel systems for the first time since the airport opened in 1984.

“To get to this point is very gratifying,” airport board member Blake Hollon said of how it feels to finally have the tanks in place. The process of getting the tanks has been going on since the beginning of the year with discussions starting in February and the official process kicking off in April. 

Hollon said the deterioration of the old fuel system necessitated the update since it was extremely hard to find filters for it.

“It was going to cost more to operate the old system that we’re spending on the new one,” he explained as he helped to guide the operation last week.

The new above-ground fuel system, which will be replacing the now decommissioned underground system, entails two tanks (one for general aviation fuel and one for jet fuel) placed on a platform created by covering the old system in concrete. 

“That was a two month process,” Hollon said “Scott (Baumann) brought people in to drain the tanks and then we had to get a guy out of Casper to decommission it and fill it full of concrete.”

The fuel tanks, acquired from Bushnell, Forida-based Envirosafe Tank Systems come with a wide variety of features, including a concrete barrier encased in the steel outside, an overfill sensor, pumps and filters that come directly off the tanks.

Once the tanks had arrived at the airport via semi truck, Hollon and Baumann worked with above-ground storage tank installers Ross Tucker and Eddie Meza from Fort Collins-based CGRS to put the finishing touches on the tanks before they were lifted via crane and set in their respective places on the concrete platform.

Then an inspector from the Department of Environmental Quality met with Hollon, Baumann and Tucker to determine what was still needed before they could officially get the tanks up and running at the county-owned, non-commercial airport north of Douglas off WYO 59.

“Now that they’re set in place, they can run the wire, a lotta wiring to go,” Hollon said of next steps.

“And then getting the final inspection, getting the QT pod for car filling” will be needed to cap off the tank project. 

Once the tanks are ready, they will be available for the more than 1,000 aircraft that utilize the airport – whether they be personal flights or medevac. The emergency flights comprised more than a third of the more than 1,200 takeoff and landings last year, he explained.

Hollon said they are hoping to have the tanks ready for use in early 2026.