Date of Award

9-1-1994

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Science

Department

Department of Systems Engineering and Management

First Advisor

Joseph Amend, PhD

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the status of storm water pollution in the United States Air Force. This is important since most AF bases are now required to have applied for a NPDES storm water permit. The objectives of the study were to: evaluate the sampling rates used at AF bases; determine the pollutants tested for by the AF bases; compare the pollutant concentrations of the AF bases to an EPA water quality standard; and determine if there were any trends in sampling or pollutant concentrations due to seasonal changes or across AF Commands or EPA Regions. This was done by requesting data from eighty- one AF bases in the United States. Data was received from fifty bases. This data shows that the AF has a problem with its storm water. There were seventeen pollutants for which the AF was evaluated. One pollutant (TKN) is not a problem, four (pH, lead, phosphorus, and TSS) of the pollutants present a problem only at individual bases, and the other twelve pollutants are significant problem for the AF. The AF data exceeded the bench mark values for the other twelve pollutants at rates ranging from thirteen percent for aluminum up to ninety-six percent for copper. There were no trends in pollutant concentrations across EPA Regions. The only trend across the AF commands was that ACC is the only command with lower a percentage of data exceeding the bench mark values than the AF as a whole for most pollutants.

AFIT Designator

AFIT-GEE-ENV-94S-25

DTIC Accession Number

ADA284784

Comments

The author's Vita page is omitted.

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