AMA-EPA Superfund Site Success Story
by Jeff Welliver
A memorable first flight
On April 26, 2006, at 2:16 p.m., the first flight lifted off from our club's new flying site. It's a simple enough statement, but as Paul Harvey used to say, "Now let me tell you the rest of the story."
A year of success
Did you ever have the feeling that things were going too well? The year 2005 had been that kind of year for the Minneapolis Piston Poppers in Minnesota—few small bumps in the road but many good things happening.
At the top of that list were many great flying sessions at our meticulously groomed flying site. For the first time in years, the local police had received no noise complaints—something that had been an ongoing challenge. Ah yes: it was the last day of September and all was right with the world.
Losing our field
Then the phone rang. It was Keith Sandberg, our club's site coordinator for the old flying field. He had just gotten a letter from the college where our site was located.
"This letter is to serve as 30 days notice," it read.
Just like that, our facility of 14 years would be gone. The only good part was that flying in Minnesota after the end of October is uncommon. Suddenly our club priorities changed from growth to survival. At the top of the list were:
- Finding a potential new site
- Securing permission or ownership
- Preparing for winter so we could assess options in spring
Finding a new site
Keith happened to notice what appeared to be an abandoned softball diamond in an industrial area. After taking a quick look at it, I agreed with him that it would have great potential if we could get it.
A few inquiries indicated that the possible site and the surrounding industrial property were in the process of being sold. That's when we learned that this was an old Superfund site that had been cleaned and sealed in the 1980s.
Club history
The Piston Poppers were formed in 1960 and became an AMA charter club early in our history. I'm the only active original member.
Transcribed from original scans by AI. Minor OCR errors may remain.
