Report to the Community:THE KIRTLAND FUEL SPILLOverviewIN 1999 THE U.S. AIR FORCE informed

the New Mexico Environment Department

(NMED) of soil contamination at Kirtland Air

Force Base associated with a leak at a fueling

facility. A few years later, in 2001, the Air Force

determined that the leak, which occurred over a

period of decades, had also contaminated the

groundwater beneath the base.

We now know that the contamination extends

beyond the boundaries of the base in a plume of

dissolved and non-dissolved jet fuel constituents

some 6,500 feet in length and 1,500 feet in width.

The latest official estimate of the quantity of fuel

involved is more than 6 million gallons.

The fuel spill is located in an important part of

Albuquerque’s groundwater aquifer. If left

unaddressed it will threaten a critical drinking

water well field northeast of the base. As a major

stakeholder in the outcome of cleanup operations,

the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility

Authority is working with both the Air Force and

NMED to ensure that the spill is not allowed to

contaminate any of its drinking water wells. This

Report to the Community provides information on

the spill and summarizes the efforts under way to

contain the contamination and eliminate it as a

threat to the aquifer.

Inside:

MAP and TIMELINE

INSIDE:

Fuel Spill Facts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Fuel Spill Timeline. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Fuel Spill Map . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Latest Air Force Cleanup Plan . . . 3

Water Authority Fully Engaged in Fuel Spill Fight . . . . 4

Water Authority Fuel Spill Resolutions. . . . . . . . . 4

Contents:

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Fuel Spill FactsALBUQUERQUE RESIDENTS, PARTICULARLY THOSE living closest to Kirtland Air Force Base, are justifiably concerned about a jet fuel spill contaminating the groundwater underneath the base and nearby neighborhoods. The spill, which has drawn the attention of national news outlets, is estimated to be one of the largest of its kind in the United States. Cleanup efforts by the Air Force, meanwhile, have so far consisted largely of preliminary studies to characterize the extent of the spill and determine the best way to mitigate it. The Air Force and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), which has jurisdiction over the cleanup, have held a number of public meetings and presentations on the spill and its environmental implications. Questions often raised include:

Q. How long has the spill been going on? A. Kirtland first reported the spill to NMED in November of 1999. A subsequent investigation revealed a leak in a bulk fuel facility that may have originated as early as the 1950s. The Air Force has addressed the leak and no new contamination from the bulk fuel facility is occurring, but the aquifer has nevertheless been contaminated with several million gallons of jet fuel.

Q. How large is the spill and how far has it spread? A. The contamination plume, including fuel floating at or near the top of the water table as well as fuel that has dissolved into the aquifer below and downgradient (i.e., downstream), is approximately 6,500 feet long and 1,500 feet across. Kirtland’s contractor currently estimates the size of the spill at more than 6 million gallons of combined aviation gas and jet propellant.

Q. Has the fuel spill contaminated any municipal drinking water wells? A. No. The fuel spill has yet to reach any of the Water Authority’s production wells, although modeling shows that one existing well field may be in the spill’s projected path. The Water Authority

is closely monitoring the situation using its own sentinel (monitoring) well located between the spill and the production wells. This sentinel well is also regularly tested to ensure that no water contaminated by the fuel spill enters the water supply.

Q. How long do we have before the spill reaches drinking water wells? A. It is estimated that the fuel spill, if left unchecked, may reach the nearest drinking water well in 25 to 40 years. The estimated arrival times are based on draft models prepared by Air Force and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contractors. The U.S. Geological Survey will be performing aquifer studies during 2015 that should provide new data to give better estimates on plume movement. In addition, sentinel wells are being strategically placed within the projected pathways of the plume to ensure detection of the contaminants before they get close to any production wells.

Q. I live in the community above the Kirtland spill. Is my water safe to drink? A. Yes. The production wells that provide your household drinking water are tested on a regular basis for contaminants related to the Kirtland spill. No spill-related

contaminants have ever been found and we will continue to monitor for them. The Water Authority Governing Board passed a resolution in 2014 that precludes the Water Authority from serving water with any detectable level of ethylene dibromide (EDB), a toxic component of jet fuel. Wells in imminent danger would be shut down before pollutants could enter the drinking water system. By law, that system must remain compliant with the strict pollution standards established in the federal Safe Drinking Water Act.

Q. How far is the contamination from the closest drinking water production well? A. The estimated edge of the fuel plume is a little under a mile away (about 4,050 feet) from the nearest well. Additional monitoring wells are planned and these will provide a more accurate estimate of the plume boundary.

Q. What steps is the Water Authority taking to ensure our drinking water is safe? A. The Water Authority has installed its own “nest” of sentinel (monitoring) wells between the edge of the contamination plume and the nearest threatened drinking water wells, and also regularly samples

and tests its production wells in the area for EDB. To date there have been no detections of any spill-related contamination in any drinking water wells.

Furthermore, the Water Authority is working with the Air Force and NMED in the development of remediation plans that will protect the drinking water supply from contamination (see “Water Authority Fully Engaged in Fuel Spill Fight” on Page 4).

The Water Authority Board in June of this year adopted a resolution stating it will not accept any remediation plan that allows drinking water production wells to become contaminated with EDB and that any such wells would be taken out of service rather than be part of a “pump-and-treat” remediation plan.

Q. What does the Air Force plan to do to remove the contamination? A. In September 2014 the Air Force presented a course of action to the Water Authority Governing Board that would begin removal of EDB contamination from the groundwater and draw it away from the threatened Ridgecrest well field begin-ning in the fall of 2015. This proposal as presented has received preliminary approval by NMED and has the Water

Authority’s support.

Q. What cleanup activities are occurring now? A. The Air Force’s corrective action activities have included soil removal and groundwater investigations, soil vapor extraction, and interim measures intended to prevent the contamination from migrating further toward drinking water wells. New monitoring wells are being drilled now as the first phase of a system that will begin removing EDB from the groundwater this fall.

Q. Why is cleanup taking so long, how long will it take, and who is paying for it? A. It’s true that the only jet fuel removed to date has been in the form of vapor extracted from the soil above the spill. The liquid component of the spill is much more difficult to address, but the Air Force has now proposed a system of extraction wells to draw it out of the aquifer (and away from municipal drinking water wells). Once operational, this system would take many years to remove the bulk of the contamination from the groundwater. In any event, the Air Force has expressed its commitment to the principle that none of the costs involved should fall on the Water Authority or its ratepayers.

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Air Force’s Latest Plan for Spill CleanupExtraction Wells Urged by Water Authority Now Included in MeasuresAfter an earlier remediation plan was rejected by the New Mexico Environment Department, the Air Force in September of 2014 presented a proposal that will directly attack the underground jet fuel plume emanating from Kirtland Air Force Base. The new plan, supported by the Water Authority, includes the installation of up to eight extraction wells to prevent further migration of the plume toward Water Authority drinking water wells.

Air Force Deputy Assistant Secretary Mark A. Correll presented the new plan at the Water Authority Board’s September 17 meeting. Implementation, pending final approval by NMED, is not expected to begin in earnest until the fall of 2015.

In a follow-up letter to the Air Force, the Water Authority expressed support for the new approach. “Obviously we are eager to see the work get under way…[and] we are encouraged that the Air Force shares our objective in preventing EDB from entering the water supply,” the letter states.

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ALTHOUGH ITS WELLS ARE threatened by the Kirtland fuel spill, the Water Authority has no regulatory jurisdiction over the Air Force where cleanup is concerned. Under the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, that responsibility is given to the New Mexico Environment Department. The Water Authority is a “stakeholder” and entitled to provide input, which it does on a regular basis; however, it has no power to force the Air Force or NMED to incorporate Water Authority recommendations into the work plans or final decisions about how the remediation will take place.

Despite these limitations, the Water Authority has taken concrete action on a number of fronts.

Since 2008, the Water Authority has been conducting its own voluntary monthly sampling/testing of nearby drinking water production

Water Authority Fully Engaged in Fuel Spill Fight

wells in the Burton and Ridgecrest Well Fields. That includes monthly sampling for ethylene dibromide (EDB) and aviation gas/jet fuel constituents, in addition to the triennial sampling required under the federal Safe Drinking Water Act. To date, there have been no detections of contaminants related to the fuel spill.

Furthermore, the Water Authority contracted independently with the U.S. Geological Survey to install a sentinel well nest system to alert the Water Authority should contamination reach the zone of the aquifer from which drinking water is produced. That “well nest” is located between the plume and municipal production wells. There has been no detection of spill-related contaminants at that site.

The Water Authority’s environmental contractor, INTERA, and Water Authority

Water Authority Fuel Spill Resolutions The Water Authority’s governing board, responding to public concern over the Kirtland fuel spill and its potential effect on the drinking water supply, has approved four spill-related resolutions since 2010:

• M-10-1 (2010): Authorizes Water Authority to hire independent environmental consultant to evaluate the remediation planning and groundwater resources in the vicinity of the plume.

• R-12-13 (2012): Authorizes an agreement with Kirtland for Contingency Plan coordination, working with U.S. Geological Survey on early warning wells, and requests that the Air Force speed implementation of final remedy.

• R-12-14 (2013): Authorizes negotiations with Kirtland for emergency measures to save Albuquerque’s drinking water, placement of monitoring wells near the Ridgecrest wells to start evaluation of wellhead treatment, containment of the light nonaqueous phase liquid plume, and implementation of remediation technology to address the long-term contamination of the soils and aquifer.

• R-14-11 (2014): Declares that Water Authority will not allow EDB contaminated water at any detectable level to enter the potable drinking water system, and urges Kirtland and the Air Force to start aggressive cleanup immediately.

How to Reach Us

Mailing Address: P.O. Box 568

Albuquerque, NM 87103-1293

Physical Address:City/County Government Center

One Civic Plaza NW Albuquerque, NM 87102

www.abcwua.org

staff have evaluated every release of data made available by Kirtland. They have provided to the Water Authority, NMED, and Air Force officials analysis of the data; documented concerns about the status of the remediation; and offered recommendations for improving the process. Over the past five years, the Water Authority board has heard no fewer than 10 public presentations on the fuel spill by Water Authority staff,

Water Authority Board As of December 2014:

Klarissa J. Peña, City Council District 3, Chair Maggie Hart Stebbins, County Commission District 3, Vice-Chair Richard J. Berry, Mayor, City of AlbuquerqueArt De La Cruz, County Commission District 2 Rey Garduño, City Council District 6Trudy E. Jones, City Council District 8Debbie O’Malley, County Commission District 1Pablo Rael, Village of Los Rancho, ex officioMark S. Sanchez, Executive Director

Kirtland and its contractor, and NMED. Those meetings have been opportunities to challenge the contractor on the pace of the cleanup and bring critical information to the public. The Water Authority has also presented its own cleanup strategies, aspects of which have been incorporated into the latest mitigation plans from the Air Force. The Water Authority Board, meanwhile, has passed a resolution stating

that it will not serve drinking water with any detectable levels of EDB and that any cleanup proposal that allows contamination to reach municipal production wells is unacceptable. The position of the agency is that the burden of remediation – and the long-term consequences of the spill – should not be placed on Water Authority ratepayers or on our community’s drought reserve.

This report is brought to you by the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, which operates the water and sewer system for the greater Albuquerque area. The Water Authority is accountable to its ratepayers through a governing Board consisting of seven elected officials: three Albuquerque City Councilors, three Bernalillo County Commissioners, and the Mayor of Albuquerque or his designate. Also serving is a non-voting member from the Village of Los Ranchos.

Water Authority Board Vice-Chair Maggie Hart Stebbins addresses reporters at a joint news conference with Kirtland installation commander Col. Tom Miller and the state environment secretary, Ryan Flynn, regarding progress on the fuel-spill cleanup.

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