Environmental Management Systems Case Studies:
Westchester County Airport
CLIENT: Westchester County Department of Transportation and County Airport
TASK: Design and Implementation of ISO 14001 EMS
LOCATION: Westchester County, NY
OBJECTIVES:
- Training of multi-tiered steering committee
- Policy research and support
- GIS/Internet tool to identify all airport related activities, products and services
First Environment assisted Westchester County Airport with the design and implementation of an ISO 14001 environmental management system. Westchester County Airport is located within an environmentally sensitive area and exists in a community where the environment and its protection are highly valued. In response to constituents’ concerns, the County Executive has committed to an ISO 14001 Environmental Management System that will ensure stakeholder confidence in the sound environmental management of this facility. In September 2004, the EMS was successfully certified to ISO 14001.
The airport exists on a very complex site containing diverse operations and falls under the jurisdictions of a variety of county, state, and federal agencies. The airport also interacts with numerous agencies and regulatory authorities that have interests in operations and/or environmental issues. In addition to government authorities, the airport site holds the activities of hangar leaseholders and over 70 corporations who conduct business at the airport. There are also contractors, consultants, and suppliers. Over 1200 individuals are employed at these various operations. All of these have the potential to a varying extent of affecting the airport’s interaction with the environment.
We also developed an aspect impact database to facilitate the collection and management of the EMS data. For the airport, we developed additional modules to support regulatory requirements involving aboveground and underground storage tanks, storm water management, waste management, and sewer permits.
