ERP - Environmental Risk Professionals

Fuel Spills

Fuels are used for aircraft, ground support equipment, and airport vehicles. Leaks or fuel spills can emanate from storage tanks or during refueling, transport, or loading and unloading. Fuels can also be spilled during aircraft accidents. Releases can impact soil, groundwater, or surface waters, resulting in cleanup, third-party, or natural resource damage claims.

Stormwater Run-Off

Airports store and handle many chemical and toxic substances that can contaminate stormwater run-off. The substances may be used in deicing planes and runways or cleaning and maintenance activities. They may also be contained within fuels and fluids from airplanes and service vehicles. Wastewater discharge, leaks, or spills resulting from container breaches, improperly maintained equipment, loading, and fueling errors can discharge contaminated stormwater run-off that can enter water systems or adjacent properties.

Lavatory Waste

Mishandling of lavatory waste or failures in hoses, valves, and equipment can result in a spill or release of wastewater contaminated with biohazards and disinfecting chemicals. Improper spill response can pose significant risks to human health and natural resources.

Deicing Chemicals

Aircraft deicing fluid, aircraft anti-icing fluid, and airfield pavement deicer formulations typically consist of a chemical that serves as a freezing point depressant. Deicing chemicals commonly used include urea, sodium formate, propylene glycol, and ethylene glycol. Deicing fluids are highly toxic to humans, wildlife, and aquatic populations. Without proper fluid collection systems, deicing agents can contaminate stormwater run-off, accumulate on unpaved areas, and infiltrate soil and groundwater during snow melt.

PFAS Hazards in Airport Fire-Fighting Foams

Fire-fighting foams used at airports may contain toxic chemicals, including per and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). These chemicals are mobile and persistent and are linked to significant hazards to human health and aquatic and other wildlife systems. Containment breaches and run-off from using the fire-fighting foam can discharge PFAS into municipal sewer systems, impacting wastewater discharges and sludge generated by wastewater treatment facilities. These toxic constituents can also infiltrate soil and groundwater or migrate to surface waters.

Maintenance Activities and Chemical Contamination

Cleaning and maintenance activities for aircraft and airport vehicles involve using various chemicals, including paints, petroleum fluids, herbicides, pesticides, solvents, and detergents. Additionally, waste fluids and wastewater may be generated from these activities. Leaks or spills of chemicals and wastes can impact soil, groundwater, or surface water.

Hazardous Waste Management

Airports may generate solid and hazardous wastes, including spent solvents, waste oil, antifreeze, deicing chemicals, wastewater, and other materials such as pesticides and paints that require special handling and disposal procedures. The waste generator is responsible for determining whether it is hazardous and following proper storage, labeling, and disposal procedures. Improper disposal or recycling could lead to cleanup and third-party liability, and there may be legal consequences for violating RCRA hazardous waste requirements. Additionally, the airport could incur tort liability for releases at third-party disposal locations where they sent waste.

Air Emissions and Greenhouse Gas

Airports generate carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions from various sources, including airport vehicles and ground support equipment, boilers and other systems that burn fossil fuels, auxiliary power units that use jet fuel to power aircraft at airport gates, etc. Tetraethyl lead is used as an octane booster in avgas, and lead can be present in air emissions from aircraft engines. Air emissions can harm third parties, leading to bodily injury claims.

Asbestos and Lead-Based Paint

Older airport buildings may have asbestos-containing materials or lead-based paint. Leading tort claims may result from accidental disturbance or alleged exposure during renovation, construction, or interior remodeling.

Water Intrusion and Mold Growth

Mold growth can result from water intrusion or high humidity within airport buildings. A mold incident can lead to cleanup and environmental tort liability

Legionella

Legionella is a bacterium that causes a form of potentially fatal pneumonia. Legionella can thrive in water systems, like air conditioning or water heaters. Warm temperatures and inadequate chlorination may result in legionella growth and airborne dispersal. Third parties exposed to legionella can develop Legionnaires’ disease, Pontiac fever, and other respiratory disease complications.

On/off-site cleanup of new and pre-existing pollution conditions

Third-party claims for bodily injury and property damage

Third-party claims for cleanup

Both sudden and gradual pollution conditions

Aboveground and underground storage tanks

Non-owned disposal sites

Natural resource damage

Emergency response costs

Business interruption resulting from pollution conditions

First and third-party transportation pollution liability

Mold, bacteria, viruses, legionella, and more

Loading and unloading

Defense of third-party claims

Illicit abandonment

Crisis management

Civil fines and penalties

Claims Scenarios & Examples

As part of an airport expansion project, an environmental study was performed, which uncovered two areas of contamination, including leakage found at an airport fueling system and releases of deicing fluid to a lake adjacent to the airport property. Costly remediation of soils and groundwater was required, and the state’s environmental agency later fined the airport for natural resource damages due to the impact on several eagles nesting at the lake.

A petroleum delivery driver brought fuel to an airport’s 10,000-gallon aboveground storage tank. An overflow valve on top of the tank began releasing jet fuel during the tank filling. Approximately 800 to 1,000 gallons of fuel migrated 20 feet through a storm drain culvert and into an underground municipal stormwater system, which traveled roughly 1.5 miles and impacted a creek and river.

An airport experienced a jet fuel spill from a fuel tank. An investigation was conducted by the state’s Department of Environmental Conservation and found the soil near the tank was contaminated. The fuel traveled across the airport’s fields and into drainage swales. Although most of the product ended up in the airport’s retention pond, some crossed the road and entered a stream impacted by the release.

When the valve on a holding tank for deicing fluid failed, an unknown amount leaked onto the ramp at the international airport. Emergency crews and airport employees determined that the spill migrated to a neighboring river, causing a fish kill. Some of the fluid also leaked into a nearby oil/water separator which had to be professionally cleaned by an environmental cleanup crew. The airport paid for the cleanup and natural resource damage claims associated with the fish kill.

Floating petroleum product was found in two compliance wells at an airport where fueling operations occurred. Further investigation found that one of the underground storage tanks had a fuel inventory discrepancy. It was discovered that the air eliminator valve on the fuel dispenser pump, which was old, had malfunctioned. Both soil and groundwater were contaminated, and remediation was required. Cleanup took three years, and the cost exceeded $850,000.

An international airport was sued by environmentalists who alleged that the airport had discharged toxic chemicals from runways into state waters. The group claimed that a large bay and three nearby creeks were contaminated with the ethylene glycol deicing mixture used on planes. This chemical can cause health issues if ingested or inhaled. The lawsuit claimed that the contamination of the waterways was due to the airport not having an adequate stormwater pollution prevention plan and glycol tracking system. The federal judge was asked to issue an injunction, requiring the airport to comply with the Clean Water Act.

An airport was working on an expansion project when soil that smelled of oil was discovered. An investigation found that the contamination was caused by a Fixed-Base Operator (FBO) who leased the space from the airport. Due to the lease agreement, the airport had environmental indemnification; however, the FBO was self-insuring its environmental liabilities, and the claim caused them to go bankrupt. Because the airport owned the land, they were ultimately and legally responsible for the environmental cleanup of the property. The airport ultimately paid more than $1 million to clean up the property.

Groundwater contamination discovered at a county airport prompted an environmental investigation. It was suspected that the contamination came from fire-fighting foam from decades prior. One monitoring well located near a previous Air National Guard septic field was found to have levels of contaminants that were 14 times that set by the EPA health advisory. Because it was very likely that contamination had migrated from the airport to surrounding properties, the state required the airport to install a remediation system to treat groundwater and provide bottled water to surrounding properties until they could be connected to the municipal water supply.

Property Types

Airports

Environmental Exposures May Include: