CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Yeager Airport is now officially in charge of its own fixed-base operations. What’s now known as the Capital Jet Center went into operation Friday afternoon.
The board that oversees the operation of the state’s busiest airport voted in July to to buy out the remaining months of the contract it had with its previous longtime FBO, Executive Air.
Yeager’s move to become its own FBO, which handles fuel sales and provides services to general aviation, came after Executive Air President Scott Miller was charged with a federal crime. He pleaded guilty to a charge that he and his company stored hazardous waste without a permit.
According to U.S. Attorney Mike Stuart, Executive Air’s business of fueling and servicing planes at Yeager produced hazardous waste. The company ended up with 27 55-gallon drums over what it was allowed to store. The drums contained approximately 1,700 more kilograms of hazardous waste.
Instead of hiring a company to properly dispose of the waste, Miller had Executive Air workers move the drums, first to a farm outside of Charleston, and then to a building in Charleston. The initial move happened in the middle of the night, federal prosecutors said.
Criminal investigators with the federal EPA found the drums in late 2015. The West Virginia DEP issued a number of violations and eventually entered a consent order with the company.
Miller is awaiting sentencing.
The Yeager Airport Board has never said publicly that its move to buyout its contract with Executive Air was directly linked to the criminal case. In the news release from the airport Friday announcing the operation of Capital Jet, it said the business decision “will allow Yeager Airport to move forward with certain enhancements of the general aviation area at CRW, and ensure the highest level of safety and customer service to the general aviation community.
“We look forward to welcoming long-time customers as well as new general aviation enthusiasts
to Capital Jet Center at CRW,” Yeager Airport Director Terry Sayre said.