Town of Superior, Boulder County latest to file lawsuit against Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport and Jefferson County

Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport is no stranger to lawsuits. First by the residents of the nearby Rock Creek neighborhood who have long voiced their concerns about noise and lead.

In February 2023, Charlene Willey spoke to CBS News Colorado about her fears surrounding the airport's operations.

"Noise is a health concern as well, but the leaded fuel is a dramatic concern," she said then.

Now the airport in Jefferson County is facing additional legal action, this time by the Town of Superior and Boulder County.

In a release announcing their newly filed complaint, they are asking that Jefferson County "abate the public nuisance stemming from piston-engine aircraft conducting touch-and-go operations at the airport."

Those touch-and-go operations largely fall on the flight schools, tasked with training new pilots in planes that run on leaded fuel and currently have no 100% unleaded option.

CBS News Colorado sat down with representatives of Colorado's aviation industry last month to discuss the results of a lead study done by the Town of Superior, looking at both surface and airborne samples.

The testing determined that "All of the results for the samples during this study were below the analytical reporting limit" and "met the national ambient air quality standards."

"It showed that the lead levels are not a factor from the air or on the surfaces from both the different studies they did," Chris Swathwood, Chairman of Legislative Affairs for the Colorado Aviation Business Association said.

The complaint from Superior and Boulder County reference those 2023 test results they say show the town's air lead levels were significantly higher on days where the airport had lots of flight operations versus a day with little to no flight activity.

In a statement issued along with the complaint the town and county say they have exhausted all informal options available and were forced to turn to the courts.