The Environmental Impacts of Airport Runoff Water

    There are several environmental factors that airport managers must account for. These environmental hazards include noise, air pollution, and pollutants in the airport runoff water. One of the biggest impacts on the environment is runoff water from the airport. Runoff water can contain pollutants from deicing the runways, aircraft washes, hangar cleaning, or even fuel spills. These actions put hazardous pollutants, such as heavy metals, glycols, detergents, pesticides, formaldehyde, and phenols into the stormwater (Sulej-Suchomska et al., 2021). This toxic water is harmful to aquatic life, animals, and to those who live in close proximity to the airport. It not only poses health risks, but the environmental impact also drives down property value (Sulej et al., 2012).

    What is in place to prevent the toxic stormwater from entering the soil? There are filtration systems around the airport that collect the water where it can then be sampled. Sulej and fellow researchers (2012) suggest that the sampling should be more frequent and at intervals. Another effective method would be to have efficient training for employees on how to prevent spillage of hazardous waste into the soil and drains. Having adequate training and resources to quickly respond to spills could alleviate the pollutant stormwaters. The more people that are coming together to prevent pollution into the stormwater, the better the environment will be around the airports. 

Note. Photo of a fire being extinguished taken by CBS News

Note. Photo of aircraft fuel spill taken by Brian Gavin at Daily Mail

References 

Sulej-Suchomska, A. M., Przybyłowski, P., & Polkowska, Ż. (2021). Potential Toxic Effects of Airport Runoff Water Samples on the Environment. Sustainability (Basel, Switzerland), 13(13), 7490–. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13137490 

Sulej, A. M., Polkowska, Ż., & Namieśnik, J. (2012). Pollutants in Airport Runoff Waters. Critical Reviews in Environmental Science and Technology, 42(16), 1691–1734. https://doi.org/10.1080/10643389.2011.569873