As a kid, someone told me that airlines used saltwater to deice planes. I have to admit, up until today I naively still thought that was the case. Unfortunately my childhood innocence has now been completely lost after reading what the AP is reporting as a possible Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulation of these deicing chemicals that turn out to be anything but saltwater.
A Big Time, Little-Known, Polluter
Millions of gallons of plane deicer end up in waterways every year due tot he fact almost all airports take no measures to prevent their runoff from entering nearby waterways. Most deicing chemicals consist of either propylene glycol and ethylene glycol; chemicals that have been known to turn streams orange and kill pretty much everything in them. Considering there are a fair number of airports very near or right next to major waterways, this chemical runoff is a huge environmental issue that surprisingly up until now has never been addressed.
That may soon change with the EPA’s announcement that it is now considering regulating the use of deicing chemicals and mandating runoff prevention measures. If the EPA proposal goes through, JKF, O’Hare, Cleveland-Hopkins International, Newark Liberty International in New Jersey, Boston Logan International and LaGuardia Airport in New York would have to install collection systems capable of containing at least 60 percent of the fluid that is sprayed (I guess 40% still going into waterways is ok?). After collecting the fluids, the airports would then have to treat the runoff to remove pollutants before releasing it.
This recent attention to the deicing chemical runoff problem is a result of a suit recently filed byThe Natural Resources Defense Council against New York claiming deicing chemicals from JFK, that flow unimpeded into the Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge, have done immense damage to the ecosystem. Also, the EPA had its attention focused when it was found that deicing fluids have been spoiling waterways near the Eastern Iowa Airport in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The Good: The EPA will hopefully follow through with its proposal to prevent harmful chemicals from being released into fragile waterways.
The Bad: The proposal only requires 60% of deicing chemicals be treated?!
The Bottom-Line: A problem that was largely unknown to the general public is finally getting addressed by the EPA as well as some much needed press, but how is still allowing 40% of the deicing chemicals to enter waterways untreated that much better? It seems the EPA has adopted the ‘less bad is good’ model for environmental oversight.
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