The 300 acre FedEx hub building area (the size of 238 football
fields) and the third runway would, according to PTIA figures, create 332 acres of
impervious surface. This 332 acres does not include ancillary roads, parking aprons,
taxiways, etc. Based on figures from the U.S. Geological Survey for the Reedy
Fork Basin in NW Guilford County (where the airport is), our water supply will be deprived
of 696 gallons per acre per day of groundwater recharge or at least 84,341,280 gallons of
water annually because of paved over natural area. (The Advisory
Board on Environmental Quality reports that "Using the recharge rate of 475
gallons/acre/day for the Reedy Fork Subbasin from the USGS Water Resources
Investigation Report 97-4140, an average of 56,867,000 gallons of water per year will be
lost as base flow to Brush Creek.") Rainwater which is allowed to soak into
the ground becomes the groundwater which provides a constant, steady flow into our creeks,
streams and lakes, and SUSTAINS OUR RESERVOIRS IN PERIODS OF NO RAINFALL. Thus, it
is extremely important to protect our groundwater supply.
Brush Creek, which runs right by the site for the proposed
runway, eventually empties into Lake Higgins, which overflows into Lake Brandt, a major
source of Greensboro’s water. The danger of toxic de-icing chemicals, fuel
spills, underground storage tank leaks, running off into our water supply is very
real. At airports around the country, these run-offs KILL aquatic life.
You may well ask, “What does it do to humans?” Those responsible for
environmental health in the county will need to set about the task of screening for such
toxic chemicals and learning how to contain them, if that is possible. A point to
ponder: FedEx is the largest air carrier of hazardous materials in the country.
In October, 1999, a FedEx cargo plane overshot a runway in the
Philippines and landed in the ocean. Authorities were trying to contain the
resulting fuel leak. Think what such a crash would mean if it happened here at Brush
Creek, the headwaters of Greensboro’s water supply.
The FedEx Hub and new
third runway would destroy over 23 acres of wetlands and nearly 3 miles of
streams in the Greensboro/High Point watershed.
The 300 acre FedEx hub building area (the size of 238 football
fields) and the third runway would, according to PTIA figures, create 332 acres of
impervious surface. This 332 acres does not include ancillary roads, parking aprons,
taxiways, etc. Based on figures from the U.S. Geological Survey for the Reedy
Fork Basin in NW Guilford County (where the airport is), our water supply will be deprived
of 696 gallons per acre per day of groundwater recharge or at least 84,341,280 gallons of
water annually because of paved over natural area. (The Advisory
Board on Environmental Quality reports that "Using the recharge rate of 475
gallons/acre/day for the Reedy Fork Subbasin from the USGS Water Resources
Investigation Report 97-4140, an average of 56,867,000 gallons of water per year will be
lost as base flow to Brush Creek.") Rainwater which is allowed to soak into
the ground becomes the groundwater which provides a constant, steady flow into our creeks,
streams and lakes, and SUSTAINS OUR RESERVOIRS IN PERIODS OF NO RAINFALL. Thus, it
is extremely important to protect our groundwater supply.