BOS, SEA And MSP Earn 2008 Recognitions
Airports Council International – North America (ACI-NA)
selected Boston Logan International Airport, Seattle-Tacoma
International Airport and Minneapolis – St. Paul
International Airport as winners of its 2008 Environmental
Achievement Awards.
"Airports have many innovative programs designed to alleviate
the environmental impact of their operations,” said Jessica
Steinhilber, ACI-NA’s Senior Director of Environmental
Affairs. “The ACI-NA Environmental Achievement Awards
recognize those airports that set an example for the industry by
going above and beyond regulatory compliance standards to protect
and preserve the environment. The 2008 winners demonstrate
outstanding qualities that illustrate the mission of this
award."
Created in 1997, the Environmental Achievement Awards program
contest has been the springboard for numerous environmental
programs at airports. Winners in each category are selected by a
three-judge panel based on the project’s environmental
benefits, innovation, effective implementation, widespread
applicability and cost-effectiveness.
Boston Logan International Airport won the Environmental
Management Award for its Airport Emissions Reduction Program.
Logan’s environmental program began in 1982 with the
implementation of the country’s first nitrogen dioxide (NO2)
monitoring program. In 2001, Massport developed an innovative Air
Quality Initiative (AQI) designed to maintain Logan's annual
nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions at or below a 1999 benchmark. A
component of the AQI is Logan’s current development of a
centerfield taxiway that, when complete in 2009, will reduce
airfield emissions by allowing aircrafts a more efficient means of
getting to and from the terminals. Additional AQI projects include
an aggressive ground-access program, a fuel hydrant system, and
power and air provided at gates to reduce aircraft emissions.
Minneapolis – St. Paul International Airport earned this
year’s Outreach, Education, and Community Involvement Award
with its Stewards of Tomorrow's Airport Resources (STAR) Program.
The STAR Outreach Program was developed to promote the newly
created STAR program which manages the airport’s sustainable
efforts, including an aggressive energy conservation program. A
promotional brochure was developed in accordance with the
airport’s sustainability policy: the majority of the
brochures were transmitted electronically as a computer PDF file.
By using a combination of electronic mailing and highlighting the
STAR program on the airport’s website, the outreach program
was able to reach a large and interested audience without
sacrificing the environment.
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport’s Comprehensive
Stormwater Management Program earned the 2008 Mitigation Award for
addressing the mitigation needs of a $4.2 billion airport expansion
project which included a new runway, new terminal facilities,
roadway improvements, and airfield improvements. The program
reflected the priorities of an environmentally sensitive community
by focusing on surface-water runoff quality, flooding and
endangered salmon. Seattle-Tacoma overcame challenges such as
adhering to a four-year timeline, using regional basin planning,
optimizing systems, and value engineering, so as to achieve all
water-quality treatment and flow-control objectives. The airport
was able to reduce the required flow-control storage volume, enable
the use of ponds rather than expensive vaults, and achieve a cost
savings of $250 million.
Judges for the 2008 Awards Program were Ashraf Jan, national
resource expert for land use compatibility at the Federal Aviation
Administration, Anne Kohut, editor of Airport Noise Report, and
Robin Sobatta, associate professor and department chair of the
College of Business at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
Award winners will be recognized at the 2008 ACI World/North
America Conference & Exhibition in Boston, MA, September 24,
during the Chairman’s Honors & 60th Anniversary
Luncheon.