Wright

Wright-Patterson Air Force Base said on Tuesday 1,500 gallons of a non-hazardous, heating and air coolant leaked from the fourth floor of the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine building in Area B.

The base said 1,000 gallons were contained and that around 500 gallons leaked into a sewer system that flows into Montgomery County.

The base notified Dayton and Fairborn water treatment officials when the leak was repaired.

Fairborn’s wellfield is far enough away from the base spill that Fairborn’s drinking water should not be affected, Fairborn City Manager Rob Anderson said.

A Dayton spokeswoman, Toni Bankston, said the city’s Water Reclamation Pre-treatment Group was notified.

“The release will not impact the sanitary collection system,” Bankston said. “Our Water Reclamation Facility incorporates Advanced Wastewater Treatment that is designed to handle treatment of compounds of this nature.”

Montgomery County Environmental Services receives its drinking water from the Dayton Water Department. The source of Dayton’s drinking water is the Great Miami Buried Valley Aquifer, a large underground area of water-bearing sand and gravel deposits.

Questions were sent to the 88th Air Base Wing, the unit responsible for infrastructure and security at Wright-Patterson. It was unclear Tuesday how long the leak had been releasing fluid before it was discovered.

No injuries have been reported, crews left the scene, and building operations were returned to the School of Medicine, the base said at about 1:17 p.m. Tuesday.

Wright-Patterson is a large Air Force base, roughly bisected by Ohio 444.

The base is home to the second largest Air Force hospital, three fire stations, and in total more than 600 buildings covering 17 million square feet.

Wright-Patterson has some 35,000 military and civilian employees, making it the largest employer in one site in the state of Ohio.

Fairborn’s water treatment facility is located on Sandhill Road at Sunset Drive. It primarily provides iron and manganese removal, the city says.

The water flows by gravity through the city’s plant, oxidized by potassium permanganate and/or chlorine, filtered for iron and manganese removal, chlorinated, and fluoridated before entering one of the plant’s two clear wells, according to the city.

Fairborn says it obtains source water from two well fields that draw water from the Mad River Buried Valley Aquifer. The city’s primary source of water is the Mad River Well Field, located on 42 acres of land off Osborn Road and adjacent to the Mad River.

About the Author

Thomas Gnau is a business reporter who joined the Dayton Daily News in 2007. He has reported for daily newspapers in Ohio since 1991.

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