Major oil and gas companies are working side-by-side with contractors in the $409 million airport expansion project to clean up an oil spill that started two decades ago.
A defective fuel hydrant system installed in the early 1990s, when a new U.S. departures terminal was built, has gushed more than 50,000 gallons of oil into the ground over many years, according to Deangelo Stuart, the environmental manager at the Nassau Airport Development Company (NAD).
Spanning up to 10 acres, the massive "plume" of contaminated soil also made its way into the water table.
And now, as redevelopment marches on, oil and gas companies Esso, Chevron and Shell are spending up to $1 million on the restoration of the infected area.
"There was an underground fuel hydrant that serviced all of the aircraft on Field A. It is apparent there was a leak
that went undetected for many years," Stuart told Guardian Business.
"When it was noticed, well over 50,000 plus gallons of oil had leaked into the ground. And part of the reconstruction effort is to remediate any of the contaminants in the ground water. It involves the clean up of impacted soil and the treatment of any free soil."
NAD is currently working on stage two of the new international arrivals building. While the clean-up and construction have already been occurring in tandem, the restoration process is expected to really kick into high gear when crews move on stage three after the summer.
Verne Janzen, project director at NAD, said the oil and gas companies are all responsible for a percentage of ownership in the leaky hydrant. He said the airport is pleased that the oil and gas giants stepped up to the plate.
He added there are two sites in particular that are contaminated, including the International departures pier and apron, and an area near the U.S. departures terminal building. The project director insisted that the project has not experienced delays from the spill, although he conceded that contractors have incurred "additional costs" .
"The oil and gas companies have brought a consultant on board with a full-time representative on-site. Sometimes they have one person, sometimes there are three or four," he explained.
Two giant tanks, about 18,000 gallons each, have been installed to collect the contaminated water and soil. A filtering process then occurs, with the finished product being ultimately returned to the airport site.
Stuart told Guardian Business that the plume is contained and poses no threat to businesses or residents in the immediate area.
"We know where it is located, and we know the behavior of the plume itself. It's not shifting and we have recovered a lot of the product in the ground, and we continue to do so," he said.
A construction environmental management plan has been created to protect workers from any effects as a result of the oil spill, who will be in place for the life of the project, he said.
The $409 million redevelopment of LPIA is the largest public/private infrastructure project in the history of The Bahamas.
Phase two, the construction of the new international arrivals terminal, is now 66 percent complete, according to Janzen.
Phase one, the U.S. departures terminal, was unveiled in February 2011.
The entire project, including this phase and phase three (international and domestic departures and domestic arrivals) is scheduled to be completed by November 2013.
The new airport complex will cover 571,000 square feet with an additional one million square feet of aircraft operating space.

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