SGS International Certification Services Canada certified Toronto’s Pearson International Airport as the first in North America to receive 14001 environmental management certification. It’s 25th largest airport in the world and handles 28 million passengers per year.
To meet certification standards, the airport’s plan calls for proper accounting and handling of fuel, de-icing chemicals, cars and taxis, and solid waste disposal. An environmental emergency contingency plan deals with substances such as jet fuels, dangerous goods in transit, deicing and maintenance chemicals and poly-chlorinated biphenyls (PCBs). At least once a year there is a mock environmental emergency exercise and the plan is updated annually.
A state-of-the-art system called Differential Optical Absorption Spectrometry will monitor air quality. The information will be reported to all levels of government and will be used to keep passengers away from emissions. Aircraft and runway deicing requires spraying glycol solution, which can get into nearby storm water. Fuel and fire-suppression chemicals may spill, and occasionally there are spills while refueling. All this flows into storm water – a leading cause of contamination. Stormwater is monitored at five locations, with additional sites during the winter.
About 60 percent of the waste generated by the airport is recyclable. The airport’s goal is to double the percentage recycled in the terminals to 50 percent, by 2001.
Source: Environment News Service: [sorry this link is no longer available]
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