Is there really a Kirtland AFB oil/water contamination issue? (Albuquerque: how much, living)
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The report uses the word "cleanup" but apparently all they are doing is drilling monitoring wells which is not "cleanup."
Anyway, there are other sites around town where contamination has occurred (such as the Fruit Ave. plume downtown, from an old dry cleaning business, and e-coli has been found in water in the South Hills neighborhood recently in the South Valley). Groundwater around the state is contaminated by naturally-occurring heavy metals, but then the water gets treated. The city well my water comes from is the closest one outside the Base to this plume but I don't see anyone freaking out over it. I'm not sure what the people who work at the Base are drinking for their water.
I hope someone with expertise in this area will chime in here.
Okay, EPA Region VI doesn't seem to know anything. The enviro groups seem clueless. IS it just not that big of a deal, or maybe just a urban myth. It just seems bizarre that there is so little information and attention given to this. If it's really not that big of a deal, I'll just forget about it. We'll probably be moving to ABQ anyway!
That's fine for now, but it's been hard to find info on what the future holds. If we want to settle there, widespread contamination could crater home values. Drinking water is scarce enough without the only source being rendered useless. When the water hole dries up, so does growth and the economy. Surely the city and EPA have a plan? I work in the environmental field, so maybe I'm just too sensitive to these issues.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanrice
There is no plan to clean up the fuel.
There is a plan, just because you are not aware of it does not mean it does not exist. "spill was only discovered in 1999. At that point, the Air Force started to investigate the soil around the spill area, acquiring soil samples from a wide area and groundwater samples from directly below the spill site."
While the spill most likely occurred over a period of decades, evidence of a spill was only discovered in 1999. At that point, the Air Force started to investigate the soil around the spill area, acquiring soil samples from a wide area and groundwater samples from directly below the spill site. The analysis showed that contamination was in the soil strata to a depth of nearly 350 feet but no fuel product was apparent in the water below the release site. In 2004, a remedy of Soil Vapor Extraction was put into service to remediate the contamination identified in the soil. In January 2007, a groundwater monitoring well at a location outside of the spill area was proposed and installed by Kirtland Environmental Program personnel based upon indications of persistent vapor plume readings far to the east of the original spill location. After the well was installed, Light Non-Aqueous Phase Liquid (LNAPL), or fuel was discovered on the water table at the new well location. This development made the clean-up much more challenging. Nevertheless, since 1999, the Air Force has planned and programmed resources to investigate/cleanup this site as efficiently and effectively as possible and will continue these actions until the effort is complete.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Stanrice
We have barely been able to get the military to drill monitoring wells
Testing wells/borings/testing as of August 2011:
Soil Vapor Monitoring Wells 35
Groundwater Wells 78
Shallow Soil Borings 5
Pneulog Well Testing 0
Direct Push Soil Sampling(does not include step out sampling) 279
or to even admit that jet fuel is in the water supply.
There has not been any jet fuel detected in the drinking water wells. What do you define as "water supply"? We have arsenic, sludge a variety of there pollutants etc.
Quote:
Q. What was spilled at KAFB?
A. Aviation gasoline (Avgas) and jet fuel formulations JP-4 and JP-8 leaked from an underground pipe at the bulk fuel facility on the base.
Q. Have fuel compounds been found in Albuquerque drinking water wells?
A. No.
As far as I know, nobody but the military has been truly involved in this matter.
Here are some agencies involved:
Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
Army Corps Of Engineers.
Kirtland Air Force Base, 377th Air Base Wing
The Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility
The City of Albuquerque.
The Environmental Protection Agency, Region 6.
The Hazardous Waste Bureau, New Mexico Environment Department.
The New Mexico Environment Department.
The Office of the State Engineer.
Water Resources Program, University of New Mexico.
Okay, EPA Region VI doesn't seem to know anything. The enviro groups seem clueless. IS it just not that big of a deal, or maybe just a urban myth. It just seems bizarre that there is so little information and attention given to this. If it's really not that big of a deal, I'll just forget about it. We'll probably be moving to ABQ anyway!
There has not been any jet fuel detected in the drinking water wells.
Not true, there have been trace amounts discovered in two wells at KAFB and at the VA Hospital.
"Of new concern is that in the Veterans Hospital drinking water well VA-2 the
semi-volatile compound benzo(a)pyrene was detected at a concentration that is above the
EPA Maximum Contaminant Level that puts people drinking the water at higher risk for
cancer. Kirtland denies knowledge of the source of the benzo(a)pyrene."
The $50,000,000 that Kirtland has committed to this is window-dressing. A similar (but much smaller) spill on Cape Cod required $35,000,000 for cleanup in 1998. The Kirtland spill is 110 times larger.
Kirtland also has a radioactive and hazardous waste dump seeping into the ground next to the Mesa del Sol planned community for 100,000 people.
Not true, there have been trace amounts discovered in two wells at KAFB and at the VA Hospital.
I believe you are correct, in fact I posted that earlier in the thread, I was pulling info from a few sources and it did not click. I plead the 60th (I am over 60...)
There is a plan, just because you are not aware of it does not mean it does not exist. "spill was only discovered in 1999. At that point, the Air Force started to investigate the soil around the spill area, acquiring soil samples from a wide area and groundwater samples from directly below the spill site."
Taking samples is NOT a cleanup plan, it represents information gathering in preparation for (hopefully) creating a plan.
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If it's really not that big of a deal, I'll just forget about it. We'll probably be moving to ABQ anyway!
