Massive underground Kirtland jet fuel spill a 'traveling tsunami'
Posted at: 07/20/2012 8:29 AM
| Updated at: 07/20/2012 8:49 AM
By: JERI CLAUSING Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - Environmentalists call the decades-old fuel spill in Albuquerque the largest threat to a city's drinking water supply in history.
As much as 24 million gallons of jet fuel are seeping into an underground aquifer and moving steadily toward the city's largest and most pristine water wells.
But more than 12 years after the toxin-laden plume from an underground pipe leak was discovered at Kirtland Air Force Base, less than half a million gallons have been pumped out of the ground and the Air Force is two years away from finalizing a cleanup plan.
An Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Board member recently called the spill a traveling tsunami.
But Air Force officials insist they're committed to full remediation.
And the state environment department says it's confident it can be cleaned up.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
 |
Tweet |
|
