61 AirportImprovement.com October 2026 ENVIRONMENTAL FAR Jeff Klein, project manager with Mead & Hunt, notes that all runoff is directed to the same inlet throughout the year. When aircraft are not being deiced and glycol isn’t an issue, the airport can open diversion valves so runoff is discharged into the storm sewer system. When aircraft deicing fluid is being sprayed during winter, valves are changed to direct all runoff to the deicing runoff collection system, where it is pretreated before ultimately getting pumped to municipal treatment lagoons located north of the airport. Going Underground Construction of the new underground storage and piping system began in September 2024 and was completed last fall. Installation of the pumping station that transports stormwater and deicing runoff to the city’s nearby treatment lagoons was completed this summer. The project cost $13.78 million, with 90% funding from Airport Improvement Program and discretionary grants. The remaining 10% of the cost was split between state and local sources. Engineers from Mead & Hunt worked closely with city engineers when excavating through a crucial levy to install the needed piping. The elevated earthen levy protects the lagoons from overland flooding and helps prevent wastewater from leaking onto adjacent property. “Excavating through this certified levy was a challenge due to the compaction standards necessary to make certain the levy maintained the required certification,” Dobberstein notes. “The city was great to work with on this aspect of the project.” Getting Started Airport officials and the project team considered multiple strategies, including the option to continue hauling away spent deicing runoff, before settling on Mead & Hunt’s system for underground storage and controlled release to the sanitary system. The airport had already installed similar infrastructure adjacent to the original terminal apron and cargo apron, notes Dobberstein. The first two phases of the recent project addressed FAR’s increased stormwater runoff volume resulting from the increased amount of pavement. Aluminized corrugated metal pipe from Contech Engineered Solutions was buried in two greenfield areas: one north of the terminal, another to the east. One detention system required 1,512 linear feet of 66-inch pipe. The second used 771 feet of 96-inch pipe.
View this content as a flipbook by clicking here.