AbTech Industries today announced completion of a new stormwater pretreatment system installed as part of a recent capacity upgrade at Albany International Airport's bulk fuel refueling and storage facility. Albany International is operated by the Albany County Airport Authority.
The Albany County Airport Authority has a history of being environmentally proactive and stipulated that all designs for the fuel facility upgrade were to surpass existing environmental regulations including SPDES (State Pollutant Discharge Elimination System) for stormwater discharge standards for large volumes of processed stormwater from the bulk fuel facility. This was done to protect nearby Shaker Creek, a sensitive receptor leading to a downstream drinking water intake. AbTech Industries, Inc., a leader in turn-key stormwater treatment systems and developer of the Smart Sponge Technology, was brought in to help design a high-capacity stormwater pretreatment system that would meet the SPDES guidelines.
"We are proud to have been a part of this project," said Rodolfo Manzone, Chief Technical Officer (CTO) of AbTech Industries. "It was important for us to understand the needs of the Albany County Airport and to help them achieve their goals for a system upgrade that would expand its capacity as well as protect the environment and the community," he concluded.
The system design involving a stormwater lift station with liquid oil sensors and a bank of absorption filters which was developed and installed in conjunction with the project contractor, FPI Mechanical, of Cohoes, NY. AbTech Industries provided the Smart Sponge Technology filtration system in which chemically selective absorbing hydrocarbons encapsulate fuel from the stormwater into a stable solid which does not leach when land-filled. The spent filter media has been proven to be non-leaching (TCLP) and is suitable for land-filling or waste-to-energy disposal. The completed stormwater pretreatment system processes 250 gpm of stormwater with no bypass, ensuring that the entire flow is filtered to ensure that the effluent quality meets the SPDES permit discharge requirements.
"AbTech Industries is committed to developing water filtration systems designed to keep our water ways free of harmful bacteria and chemicals that that contaminate waters due to stormwater runoff" said Glenn Rink, President AbTech Industries. "The Smart Sponge water filtration technologies have been deployed in hundreds of communities across the country and are helping hundreds of beaches, lakes and reservoirs remain free of Ecoli and oil-based chemicals that can make people sick," he said.
The Albany County Airport Authority implemented the bulk fuel facility upgrade to ensure that Albany International Airport could maintain a reliable source of aviation fuels in all weather conditions for the foreseeable future, in an environmentally responsible manner.
About AbTech Industries:
AbTech Industries, Inc., based in Scottsdale, Arizona, provides communities and industries with customized solutions to control or remove petroleum products such as gasoline, oil & grease, sediment, trash and debris, while destroying bacteria that are threatening the quality of our nation's waterways.
AbTech's products incorporate a polymer-based filtration material, the Smart SpongeŽ, a technology that effectively removes pollutants from flowing or pooled water, encapsulating them so that they cannot be released back into the environment even under high pressure. In addition, AbTech is the first company to combine an antimicrobial agent in its filtration material and provide the first solution that effectively destroys bacteria at the street level. AbTech's products are deployed in over 36 states in several different applications, notably stormdrain-sewer systems, filters and vaults.
The Environmental Protection Agency has included AbTech's Ultra-UrbanŽ Filter series with Smart Sponge technology as a Best Management Practice (BMP) under the federal environmental guidelines that apply to local and state governments.
Reflecting AbTech's overall commitment to environmental protection, the company creates products that are fully recyclable to provide a complete, closed-loop solution for hydrocarbon -- oil & grease; and trash and debris removal. AbTech Industries, Inc. also supports clean water advocacy initiatives throughout the world and is a strong supporter of Adopt-A-Waterway (formerly Adopt-A-Stormdrain) and the Waterkeepers Alliance, Inc.