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.

FMI: www.aci-na.org