FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: January 8, 2024

CONTACT: Peter Lehner, NRDC 212-727-2700
Stephen F. Debreceny, AEC 410-850-9054
Jack Saporito, AReCO, US-CAW 847-506-0670
Colleen Dermody, HSUS 301-258-3072

ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS TO FILE LAWSUITS
AGAINST BWI AND O'HARE AIRPORTS FOR TOXIC DISCHARGES

Citing over 150 separate violations of federal clean water and right-to-know laws, a coalition of local and national environmental groups yesterday filed a notice of intent to sue Baltimore-Washington International Airport (BWI) for discharges of toxic chemicals into Sawmill Creek. Similarly, citing over 100 violations of public right-to-know laws, environmental groups filed a notice of intent to sue Chicago O'Hare International Airport.

The Natural Resources Defense Council, Inc. (NRDC), the Airport Environmental Coalition (AEC), the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), and US-Citizens Aviation Watch (US-Caw) charged the Maryland Aviation Administration (MAA), which owns and operates BWI, with violating the federal Clean Water Act through its discharges of stormwater that is highly contaminated with airplane deicing fluids containing ethylene glycol and other toxic chemicals. The groups also cited MAA for violating federal Superfund and community right-to-know laws requiring it to report releases of these hazardous substances to federal, state, and local emergency planning agencies.

NRDC, HSUS, the Alliance of Residents Concerning O'Hare (AReCO), and US-CAW are also charging the City of Chicago, which owns and operates O'Hare, with violating of federal Superfund, community right-to-know and clean water laws which require public disclosure of their massive releases of ethylene glycol.

"Despite a lot of talk about how well they are doing, these airports are regularly violating federal environmental laws," said Peter Lehner, Senior Attorney at NRDC.

"With these anticipated lawsuits, we aim to have the airports expedite improved runoff collection and management systems and switch to less toxic deicing chemicals," said Nancy Marks, Senior Attorney at NRDC. "We are emphatic that we are not in any way advocating reduced deicing or anything else that could compromise passenger safety. It is clear, however, that great environmental and public awareness improvements can be made while protecting flight safety."

Ethylene glycol, which is used as an aircraft and runway deicer, is also the primary ingredient in consumer anti-freeze. Since it has a sweet taste, it is attractive to wildlife and companion animals when spilled on the ground or in streams or puddles. Ethylene glycol has been found to be a significant cause of wildlife and companion animal mortality and human poisonings. Leslie Sinclair, D.V.M., the Director of Companion Animal Care at HSUS, said, "Animal deaths from ethylene glycol are preventable. A good first step to stop the runoff of toxins from airports. BWI and Chicago's O'Hare airport should begin using the less toxic and equally effective propylene glycol-based deicer as part of their long range plans to comply with all environmental laws and standards."

Stephen Debreceny, President of AEC, said, "Runoff from BWI into Sawmill Creek, which originates on airport property, has been found to contain high concentrations of glycols. These discharges have also caused an unnatural froth, in places over four feet thick, and noxious fumes rising from the creek. Residents near the airport have experienced headaches, dizziness and nausea after exposure." In an NBC radio documentary last spring, officials of the United States Environmental Protection Agency stated that deicing materials can harm the public health and the environment.

BWI's Clean Water Act discharge permit requires it to take steps designed to reduce or prevent discharges of stormwater contaminated with deicing chemicals. In fact, for the past several years, BWI has boasted of a $16 million "state of the art" reclamation system for deicing fluids. From the start, however, the system has been ineffective in part because it can be used only when planes depart to the East. Over the past ten winters, planes at BWI have departed to the West about 80 percent of the time. The environmental groups charge that MAA know the system would be unused most of the time, and that MAA has failed to take steps required under its permit to improve the system, track usage of deicing chemicals, and prevent the violation of state water quality standards in local streams that are protected for swimming, fishing, aquatic life, and wildlife. According to airport, BWI conducts deicing operations between 80 and 120 days each year. Under federal right-to-know lays, any facility, such as an airport, that releases into the environment over 5,000 pounds of ethylene glycol must report such releases to federal, state, and local authorities.

Airplane deicing at BWI and both airplane and runway deicing at O'Hare use and release vast quantities of ethylene glycol-containing fluid often over 100,000 pounds per day. Yet neither airport is reporting this release information to the federal, state or local governments from which it could be made publicly available. Deicing records from O'Hare, for example, indicate that approximately 8.3 million pounds of ethylene glycol were applied at O'Hare in January 1997. Additives in the deicers are also highly toxic and yet also not reported.

Jack Saporito, Executive Director of ARCO and President of US-CAW), said, "We need stronger regulations and enforcement by the state to protect the people. The Clean Water Act permit given to O'Hare by the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency is far too weak and imposes virtually no limits on discharges. And they are still not complying. We often get complaints of noxious smells. Near O'Hare neighbors have seen evidence of wildlife and waterfowl poisoning as well as fish kills caused by ethylene glycol."

Expressing a preference for compliance over litigation, the organizations invited the airports to discuss a negotiated settlement with them.

NRDC is a national, not-for-profit environmental advocacy organization, dedicated to reducing pollution and protecting wildlife and other natural resources. NRDC has over 350,000 members nationwide, including over 8,500 in Maryland and 23,000 in Illinois. In 1997, NRDC issued a report, "Flying Off Course: Environmental Impacts of America's Airports," which found that 45 out of 50 of the nation's busiest airports are located near water bodies. The report concluded that the massive amounts of chemicals used in deicing and other runway operations pose a significant environmental and health hazard.

US-CAW is a nationwide Chicago-based organization comprised of numerous airport environmental groups (including AEW) dedicated to protecting the public from the adverse environmental impacts of airports and representing hundreds of thousands of members nationwide.

The Humane Society of the United States is a national non-profit corporation with over 5,000,000 members and constituents nationwide organized to promote humane treatment and welfare of all animals with an interest in the environmental toxins released by airports.

AEW is a not-for-profit environmental organization based in Linthicum, Maryland, with members living immediately downstream of and in the vicinity of BWI Airport.

AReCO is a not-for-profit airport environmental and civic organization of 1,200 members dedicated to protecting the public from the adverse environmental impacts of O'Hare Airport.