The Effects of Illegal Fuel Dumping On the Air Force Flight Line .
As of 1996, about 40% of the nations surveyed rivers, lakes and estuaries are too polluted for basic uses. This information from the States indicates that serious water quality problems persist nationwide, and it emphasizes the importance of restoring and preserving our nations clean water (Browner 33). For instance, during the past year there has been an estimated 13,500 pounds of aircraft jet fuel purposely dumped into the storm drains at LAFB. These drains are directly connected to the Northwestern and Southwestern branches of the Back River, a Chesapeake Bay estuary (Refer to Photo 1). This chemical pollution can be directly accredited to dumping made by flight line aircraft maintainers. This problem has been generally overlooked in the past for reasons unknown. In order to cease all dumping, the responsible squadrons and their supervisors need to take immediate action.
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Photo 1. This is a drainage ditch that is directly connected to the flight line draining system.
All research indicates that government funded programs have greatly increased the water quality of the Chesapeake Bay (Huber 166+). At Langley Air Force Base illegal dumpings persists on a near daily basis. Intentional fuel dumping accumulates up to nearly 8 gallons on any given flying day. That figure coupled with the 260 flying days on an average year can accumulate more than 13,000 pounds of fuel. This information has been retrieved from three separate studies. Three people, including myself, watched each squadron's flight line for two hours at the end of a single flying day. This is when all of the fuel is supposed to be properly disposed of. Our findings were very similar and found that there is an estimated 25% of fuel that is not disposed of properly (Refer to Fig. 1). Based on this newly found information, the report assesses the potential health hazards that are associated with this type of fuel based on the local environment and uses of this water.