For the third time this year, crews are responding to possible petroleum contamination near the Flint River headwaters at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport.
Airport officials notified downstream communities over Memorial Day weekend that a spill had occurred, according to Flint Riverkeeper staff. A spokesperson for the airport says they were notified of “petroleum product” in the Flint on May 24. The airport has not released an estimate of how much product was involved.
R.J. Gipaya, director of field operations for Flint Riverkeeper, said he confirmed fuel in the river on May 25 and tracked evidence of contamination roughly 20 miles downstream.
“The major tip-off was sheen on the water and then, of course, odor,” Gipaya told GPB. “It’s [an] unmistakable kerosene smell. It will give you a headache if you’re standing there long enough.”
The latest incident comes as airport officials continue searching for the source of a separate petroleum contamination event discovered near the Flint River headwaters in April. Alnissa Ruiz-Craig, a spokesperson for the airport, confirmed cleanup crews recovered roughly 9,450 gallons of petroleum-contaminated water from that incident. 5,100 gallons of that was estimated to be petroleum. The source of contamination has still not been identified despite testing across the airport’s underground fuel system.
Airport officials sent a preliminary alert on April 22 after an “unidentified petroleum-based product” was observed. Internal emails described a “reddish or purple sheen” near where the Flint River surfaces close to the airport. At the time, officials described the material as a “weathered” petroleum-based product that may have mixed with hydraulic fluid.
Both of these investigations come after a major jet fuel spill at the airport in January triggering a temporary “Do Not Consume” advisory for the City of Griffin.
As GPB previously reported, internal airport emails showed officials believed that January spill may have gone undetected for about eight days before it was discovered. Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division estimated roughly 20,000 gallons of jet fuel reached the Flint River system. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, remediation contractors recovered an estimated 28,000 gallons of jet fuel.
For those monitoring the river, the repeated incidents raise questions about the airport’s infrastructure.
“The frequency is very concerning,” Gipaya said. “And it shows that they’re not really containing anything. If we’ve had three spills to reach the river this calendar year, that’s unacceptable.”
Flint Riverkeeper Gordon Rogers is worried it may be a situation where they can’t identify the source.
“It reinforces my perception that there’s a lot that they don’t know about their own infrastructure and operations,” Rogers said.
In earlier statements, airport officials said the April contamination did not appear related to the January jet fuel spill. They also said they were working with state environmental agencies to determine the source.
All three incidents remain under investigation.
GPB has reached out to Georgia’s Environmental Protection Division for comment on the most recent findings.
