Wednesday, February 13, 2002
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Wednesday, February 13, 2002 |
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EPD: 'We blew it' State agency took 4 days to respond to calls that deicing fluid had been spilled into the Flint RIver; airport manager promises new procedures will prevent future spills. By DAVE HAMRICK
A comedy of errors combined to allow an unknown amount of deicing fluid from Hartsfield International Airport to infiltrate Fayette County's water supply, officials said in a special hearing Friday. Ben DeCosta, airport general manager, promised to do everything possible to make sure it doesn't happen again. "We are very sensitive to what happened, and pained that we might have had something that happened at the airport that had an impact on the community," DeCosta told about 50 residents gathered for a hearing called by state Rep. Kathy Cox at Peachtree City Hall. State Environmental Protection Division officials also came under fire during the hearing for a slow response after the airport notified the agency about the spill of the sweet-smelling fluid into the headwaters of the Flint River, one of the sources of Fayette's water supply. Drainage and a holding tank under the airport's deicing pads aren't adequate to handle the spent fluid from a major snowstorm like the one that hit the airport Jan. 3, DeCosta said, promising to have a fleet of tanker trucks on hand to collect the overflow during any future deicing events. "We got ourselves together, took a look at our situation and determined what we need to do to protect you and your family," DeCosta said. The deicing pads' holding tank is designed to hold 80,000 gallons of the fluid, which consists of ethylene and propylene glycol mixed with hot water, DeCosta said. Before Jan. 3, the system had never been faced with more than 60,000 gallons in one event, he added. The fluid is slowly pumped into the South River Treatment Plant and treated; then the treated water is discharged into the Flint River, one of Fayette's sources of drinking water. DeCosta said the system also is designed so that, after one deicing event, the holding tank is emptied and ready for the next one. But this time, not only did the airport pump out far more fluid than the tank could hold about 180,000 gallons but when airport officials examined the tank, they discovered that the 3/4-inch line leading to the sewer plant was clogged and the tank was not empty when deicing operations started Jan. 3. "I don't know how much went into the river," DeCosta told the gathered residents. He also denied earlier reports that the airport had reported only a 250-gallon spill. "What we said is we don't know," he said. Hartsfield environmental officials immediately collected samples from the Flint River close to the airport's storm water discharge, DeCosta said, and tests of the water later revealed that water flowing into the river carried about 1,600 parts per million of glycol. When the spill was discovered, DeCosta added, the airport immediately notified the state Environmental Protection Division, and still more errors ensued. In attempts to get more information on the spill, EPD officials were unable to get through to Hartsfield by phone, said Bert Langley, EPD's emergency response manager. "We frankly blew it," Langley said in response to an angry question from the audience. He said EPD's phone numbers for the airport were all office numbers that shut down on weekends. EPD has now made sure the agency can get through to the airport on weekends, he said. It was Monday, Jan. 7 four days later before EPD officials talked to airport officials and learned about the extent of the spill. It was days later still Jan. 10 before results of the early tests were available. By then, calls were coming in to EPD and the Fayette County Water System from residents complaining of a sweet smell to the water. "I think the volume here just flabbergasted all of us," said Langley. The airport will use tanker trucks to handle overflow from its system until a new one is built in conjunction with expansion programs underway at the facility, said DeCosta.
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