The impact of airport de-icing on a river: the case of the Ouseburn, Newcastle upon Tyne

The damaging effects of airport de-icers to adjacent waterways have been suggested by a number of studies, but none have been able to demonstrate these effects in a field situation. The Ouseburn is a part-urban and partrural catchment of varied land-use and includes a tributary which drains the Newcastle International Airport. The tributary contributes only 3-5% of the river's average flow, yet it had a disproportionately adverse impact upon the river. This paper demonstrates how this was linked to the airport's winter application of urea salt de-icers. An integrated approach involving hydrological, chemical, bacteriological and macroinvertebrate sampling was used. During cold weather, higher levels of ammonia were recorded in the tributary and downstream, and concentrations peaked during runoff events. It is suggested that hydrolysis, facilitated by urea digesting bacteria, and surface runoff is the mechanism by which ammonia enters the stream. The airport tributary had a less diverse macroinvertebrate fauna than expected and had larger numbers of bacteria which were able to utilise urea. In-situ bioassay experiments found large deaths of Gammarus pulex (L.) and low biotic indices at a site downstream of the airport tributary confluence. Together with elevated ammonia levels this suggested that urea application adversely impacted on the main stream's water quality and ecology. The airport authorities have responded by changing to a less toxic de-icer.