Wayne County’s Detroit Metropolitan Airport recently completed a massive $1.6 billion capital improvement program that includes a new Midfield Terminal, a new South Access Road and a new Fourth Parallel Runway. Aircraft and pavement deicing chemicals used at the Airport become mixed with stormwater runoff and pose a serious threat to the water quality of downstream receiving waters. The Airport had to develop a stormwater master plan to address both the water quality and flow control needs of this expanding world-class air transportation facility.
HRC developed a Master Stormwater Control Plan to accommodate this development while maintaining permit compliance at the Airport’s regulated stormwater outfalls. The stormwater system is designed to capture all runoff generated from the 4,825 acre Airport site in several large detention ponds, with combined storage in excess of 455 million gallons. Offsite drainage is routed around the new Airport boundary bypassing the pond system. A complex Deicing Fluid Runoff Control System emphasizes the use of isolated apron drainage, end-of-runway deicing pads, collection and recycle of concentrated deicing fluid runoff, and sanitary sewer treatment for dilute runoff not amenable for recycling. An open drain runs interior to the southern Airport boundary, intercepting overland flow from the airfields and conveying contaminated stormwater runoff from the new development projects.
