Official: Clogged drain sent airport chemical into river

PEACHTREE CITY - Thousands of gallons of de-icing fluid flowed into the Flint River last month because of a clogged drain at Hartsfield Atlanta International Airport, officials said. <br> <br> Environmental officials at a public hearing Friday said botched communications, human error and bad judgment caused the state Environmental Protection Division to react slowly in handling the spill, which affected the drinking water of thousands of Fayette County residents. <br> <br> ``We frankly blew it,&#39;&#39; said Bert Langley, the EPD&#39;s emergency response program manager. <br> <br> Airport general manager Ben DeCosta said the airport&#39;s de-icing system malfunctioned during the heavy snowstorm on Jan. 2-3 because of a clogged drain pipe in the underground system. He said he discovered the clogged drain pipe only this week. The pipe is designed to hold up to 80,000 gallons of ethylene glycol. <br> <br> Langley said estimates of the amount of the chemical spilled ran from 10,000 to 100,000 gallons, although the exact amount is unknown. <br> <br> But the airport used so much of the chemical that the excess overflowed into the storm water system and went into the Flint, which starts near the airport. <br> <br> Peachtree City residents were livid that no agency told them that ethylene glycol, a de-icer much like antifreeze, was in the river and some of their drinking water. Residents said the water still smells bad more than a month after the incident. <br> <br> Langley said the overflow seemed small, so downstream communities that rely on the Flint for drinking water were not notified. <br> <br> Langley said airport officials called an EPD hot line the night of Jan. 3, but left only office numbers. The EPD returned the airport&#39;s call but only got voice mail until Jan. 7. <br> <br> Langley said the health impact on Peachtree City residents is unknown, because the amount of the overflow is undetermined. About 45 water samples taken between Jan. 16 and Jan. 29 showed no evidence of ethylene glycol, the EPD said. One sample showed a trace of the chemical. <br> <br> No samples were taken right after the spill.

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