Research targets technologies for treating stormwater contaminated with airplane deicing fluid

STILLWATER, MINN. – Naturally Wallace Consulting (NWC) is a consulting partner with Gresham, Smith and Partners (GS&P) on a research project to identify onsite and offsite technologies for treating stormwater contaminated with airplane deicing fluid for the Airport Cooperative Research Program (ACRP). The team will evaluate the performance of currently installed technologies, along with potentially emerging technologies, and provide guidance to help airports faced with increasing regulatory and technical challenges in selecting the best available method for treatment.

Annually, millions of gallons of stormwater and wastewater from glycol-based aircraft deicing and anti-icing fluids (ADFs) are produced in the United States and requirements for handling and treatment vary from state to state. The effluent limitation guidelines being developed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will likely standardize effluent limits and collection efficiencies, but will not provide guidance to help airport operations managers and engineers select the optimal system for their particular geographic, temperature, and site constraint parameters.

"We selected NWC as a teaming partner on the ACRP research project because of the NWC team’s extensive experience in the design of aerated gravel beds for the treatment of glycol-contaminated runoff from deicing operations," said Tim Arendt, P.E., of GS&P, who is the principal investigator on the research project.

The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, a private, non-profit institution that provides services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities, manages the ACRP. The research study will culminate with publication of Guidance for Treatment of Deicing Impacted Airport Stormwater for ACRP Project 02-29, expected to be released in 2013.

NWC, formerly North American Wetlands Engineering, has designed glycol treatment systems for airports worldwide including Buffalo Niagara International Airport and Long Island MacArthur Airport, both in New York, Heathrow Airport in the United Kingdom, and Edmonton International Airport in Canada. NWC currently is working on solutions for Gatwick Airport in the U.K.