Tuesday,
November 21, 2006
Written
By JOHN HOWELL
While
this fall has been unusually warm, there's no guarantee that winter won't bring
its mix of snow and sleet and, with it, the de-icing of aircraft at
Remembering
what happened in the winter of 2003, environmentalists are fearful that the ice
and snow will mean more than a brief delay for passengers as an aircraft sits
on the tarmac awaiting a spraying of glycol. Their
concern is Buckeye Brook, a natural run for herring and alewives.
Three
years ago the sweet smell of glycol was so strong it could be detected at the
brook's outfall in Mill Cove well over a mile from the airport. In the wake of
numerous discharges of the chemical during the winter months, sections of the
brook took on an orange hue and there was a growth of bacteria that is believed
to have killed off aquatic vegetation.
A
lot has happened since that winter. The Rhode Island Airport Corporation has
taken major steps to capture de-icing fluid before it reaches the airport stormwater system. Local groups, spearheaded by the Buckeye
Brook Coalition, have mounted spring campaigns to clean up the brook and
monitor its condition.
But
for all the measures taken, RIAC still contests provisions of a Rhode Island
Department of Environmental Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit. And
judging from the history of legal haggling, which continues today, it seems
likely the airport will go through another winter without a permit even though
DEM has clamped down on far less serious cases.
The
latest twists in a convoluted series of events is
Southwest Airlines’ petition to intervene in the matter, which the DEM has
objected to, and the demand that RIAC produce a stormwater
pollution prevention plan by Nov. 30.
Southwest’s
petition was denied Nov. 16. Southwest argued that the permit is intended to
constrain its and RIAC’s activities and that the
airlines will suffer injury as a result. The Office of Water Resources
successfully maintained that the airline’s intervention “would only impede the
prompt and just resolution of this matter.”
As
for the stormwater permit, the clock continues to
tick.
But
RIAC has disagreements.
According
to RIAC Vice President of Environmental Management Systems Brenda Pope, RIAC
submitted a prevention plan, or SWPPP, that met all permit issues which are not
the subject of the permit appeal.
“There
is an ongoing disagreement whether RIAC should be required to undertake the
challenging and costly process of preparing a plan detailing how it will meet
permit limits that are the subject matter of the pending appeal. RIAC intends
to submit an updated SWPPP after a final decision on the permit limits has been
rendered,” Pope told the Beacon via e-mail.
Steve
Insana, president of the Buckeye Brook Coalition, has little patience for
further delays.
In
addition to concerns about the brook, he said last week RIAC "has
raped" an area north of Airport Road, cutting down hundred of trees and
decimating marginal wetlands.
"It
seems to me whenever FAA says they want something they [RIAC] do it. I wish the
governor would step in. Set a $1 million [fine] and get the RIPDES
Permit," he said.
Insana
blames the lawyers for delaying action on the permit and for circumventing measures
that would otherwise protect the environment. The clearing of the trees he
thinks would have required a wetlands permit, an action that would have been
subject to City Council approval.
However,
Insana said RIAC successfully argued the clearing of the trees would have no
significant impact so they were allowed to go ahead without a wetlands permit.
"Removal
of hundreds of trees, that's not a significant alternation?"
he said.
As
for the RIPDES permit, Insana said if DEM can’t resolve the issue and reach an
agreement shortly he would turn to the Environmental Protection Agency and ask
that it intervene.
Brain
Wagner, legal counsel for the DEM, said yesterday the agency needs to establish
a new discovery process and move toward a hearing. He said it is his
understanding that RIAC and the airlines are working on “new ideas” that could
lead to a resolution of differences and a permit.
A
key issue is the system RIAC uses for recovering glycol.
Wagner
said DEM has issues with the use of “sweeper vehicles” that vacuum the de-icing
fluid since they must wait for aircraft to clear a gate before they can be
deployed. As planes are often in and out of gates over an extended period,
sweeper vehicles often don’t reach the areas until fluids are highly diluted
and have flushed into storm drains. Wagner said DEM has suggested de-icing pads
with collection drainage systems as well as a de-icing system where aircraft
are driven under infrared lamps and are minimally sprayed with glycol.
He
said with airport expansion and improvements being discussed, this should be
the time to explore alternatives.
“The
more of this stuff [glycol] they can collect the better,” he said.
Meanwhile,
an elaborate system, operating from trailers and a temporary shed on the east
side of the airfield near the maintenance facility now under construction, has
been created to separate glycol from rainwater and snowmelt. The heart of the
system, built by Canadian company Inland Technologies International, resembles
a giant distillery and is so innovative that a Beacon photographer on a visit
last Wednesday was told not to take close-up pictures of pumps and gauges for
fear that competing companies might steal the technology.
The
sweet smell of glycol lingered in the air although airlines have not needed to
de-ice aircraft since last winter. However, RIAC site manager Robert Fournier
had the answer.
The
plant is in its initial phase of operation, he said. It is now being used to
separate glycol from a 320,000-gallon reservoir, which resembles a giant,
covered above-ground pool. This was de-icing fluid and runoff collected last
winter.
“It’s
like making maple syrup,” said Russ Erickson, technical supervisor for the
manufacturer. The difference is that in place of a pot over an open fire there
is a 1,000-square-foot tank. Erickson said Inland has found a way using heat
exchangers to dramatically reduce the energy needed to “boil off” the water and
capture the glycol. The company has operational plants at airports in
The
initial process produces a concentrate that is about 50 percent glycol. Further
separation takes place with the final product being sold to a company in
De-icing
fluid is collected after aircraft are sprayed by three tug-pulled trailers with
suction hoses and storage tanks. RIAC also has a truck that does the same
thing, vacuuming the mixture of water and glycol from the tarmac.
Pope
said additional measures are being taken by RIAC including the establishment of
dedicated areas for de-icing, the award of a contract for a centralized virgin
glycol storage and dispensing facility (which is projected to reduce the amount
of glycol used by 30 percent) and evaluation of hybrid deicing technology.
Other steps being taken are a formalized complaint response procedures should
glycol odors be detected and the ongoing preparation of a draining master plan,
which is in phase 2 and 3 of a five-phase process, said Pope.
RIAC
has worked out an arrangement with the Warwick Sewer Authority to accept the
residual water from the distillation process. Under the agreement during the
period of Jan. 9 to May 31, RIAC is authorized to discharge a maximum of 5,000
gallons per day to the sewer. Each batch discharge will be tested to ensure the
wastewater is in full compliance with limits set by our Industrial Pretreatment
Program, said Joel Burke, superintendent of the authority.
DEM
spokeswoman Gail Mastrati said yesterday RIAC was
issued permits Sept. 18 for the removal of obstructions and the topping of
trees on the north side of