"Portland airport's de-icing system harms fish"

Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Portland airport's de-icing system harms fish 
The Associated Press


PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - A $31 million system designed to collect runoff from
de-icing fluid sprayed on planes at Portland International Airport in winter
is causing problems for Columbia River fish.

The collection system, which the Port of Portland began using in November
2003, has worked fine. But officials say it was based on two faulty
assumptions that have led to dozens of water-quality violations, an $82,500
state fine and an agreement signed this month that the Port will build a new
treatment and discharge system by 2012.

Discharges containing the de-icing fluid - variations of glycol, similar to
antifreeze - are harmful to fish and other aquatic life. Bacteria break down
the fluid, robbing fish of oxygen in the Columbia Slough, where the water is
emptied.

As glycol-laden water passes into the lower portion of the slough, it
encounters habitat for juvenile coho and chinook salmon, members of the
Columbia Slough Watershed Council wrote the state Department of
Environmental Quality in 2004.

Susan Aha, a Port water-quality manager, said the chief problem with the
current system was that it was based on models indicating that water flows
in the slough ran 100 cubic feet per second.

"Since then we've come to realize that flows are much lower," Aha said,
averaging 50 to 60 cubic feet per second. Many days there is no measurable
flow at all.

The result of lower water flows is that the concentration of glycol in the
slough is not sufficiently diluted.

The Port is looking at piping discharges directly into the Columbia River as
part of enhancing its system. Current discharges eventually get there
anyway, after passing from the slough to the Willamette River and then to
the Columbia.

The Port began contacting advocacy groups recently to discuss such a
possibility.

"To its credit, the Port came to us, acknowledged a problem, and we're
talking," said Brent Foster, executive director of Columbia Riverkeeper.
"But I can tell you we're not excited about a new discharge into the
Columbia."

A second flaw in the current system is that a holding tank was constructed
to a capacity that, on most days, causes it to contain four times more
biodegradable material than the city of Portland is willing to accept for
treatment. That forces more de-icing material into a holding pond and later
the slough.

The cost and details of beefing up the current system have yet to be
determined. Although the Port is a public agency, airline usage fees
ultimately pay the bills for such a system.

The Port de-ices runways on extremely cold days, and airlines spray down
their planes to prevent ice buildup that can make them unsafe to fly.

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