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Environmental Responsibility and Noise Abatement Environmental Responsibility It is essential to use de-icing fluids for safe winter airport and aircraft operations. Over 10 years ago DCRA switched from glycol to the more environmentally friendly potassium acetate (similar to vinegar in composition) to deice runways. The airlines use ethylene glycol to de-ice aircraft prior to departure. The airport has a program that controls and monitors runoff to ensure that chemical runoff doesn’t endanger local waterways, including Starkweather Creek, which closely borders the airfield. It is this concentrated use of the chemical in one area that prompted the Department of Natural Resources and the Dane County Regional Airport to establish a program that controls and monitors ethylene glycol runoff. Because Starkweather Creek closely borders the airfield, the program ensures that chemical runoff doesn't endanger local waterways. The glycol used at the airport is drained into a plastic-lined storage pond near the terminal. There, the chemical breaks down naturally in about 20 days; once the product has sufficiently broken down, the contents of the pond can be released into a nearby drainage ditch. If the pond doesn't reach acceptable limits, the airport pumps it out through the sewer system where it can be treated. Improving Marsh and Water Quality The Runway 14/32 Safety Area Improvement Project, nearing completion in summer of 2007, will improve, to FAA-mandated standards (that were previously subject to waivers), the runway safety area off the end of one of the airport’s two secondary runways. The purpose is to provide an unobstructed area for aircraft that could potentially undershoot, overrun or very off the runway. The two-year, two-phase RSA Improvement Project necessitates relocation of portions of a Canadian Pacific railway line, County Highway CV, Starkweather Creek and a section of the airport perimeter fence and road. The project makes several environmental improvements to the area.
The Federal Aviation Administration provides 95 percent of the funding for this $22 million project. The State of Wisconsin and Dane County each contribute 2.5 percent. 
Due to the great lengths taken to protect the marshland affected by the RSA Improvement Project, DCRA was awarded the 2006 Outstanding Achievement Award for Environmental Stewardship by the FAA Great Lakes Region.
For information on this project, contact Mike Kirchner, PE, at 608-246-3393 or email kirchner@msnairport.com.
Noise Abatement Operating an airport in close proximity to residential and business areas requires attention be paid to issues of noise. An extensive noise abatement program is aimed at limiting the aircraft noise impacts to the surrounding communities. The airport has a voluntary Noise Abatement Program, and a dedicated noise control officer whose job it is to work with the airlines, private plane operators and the military to mitigate noise to the extent possible. While the airport cannot mandate compliance with this voluntary program, we can report a high level of compliance by aircraft taking off and landing at the airport. Weather and air traffic permitting, aircraft comply with the airport’s voluntary noise abatement program by landing from and taking off to the north to minimize noise above the populated areas of the city.
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