State: Albuquerque groundwater scare false alarm
Posted at: 11/29/2012 10:39 AM
By: The Associated Press
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - State environmental officials say the reported discovery of a possible Superfund groundwater site beneath southeast Albuquerque appears to have been a false alarm.
The Albuquerque Journal reports that the New Mexico Environment Department said Wednesday that there were no signs of the potentially cancer-causing chemical perchloroethylene, or PCE, in follow-up testing.
The Environment Department announced last month that the PCE had been discovered in test wells being drilled to monitor nearby contamination from an old Kirtland Air Force Base aviation fuel spill.
The PCE appeared to be unrelated to the Kirtland spill, and set officials off on a search for an old dry cleaner.
Jim Davis, head of the New Mexico Environment's Resource Protection Division, said the contamination likely came from equipment being used to collect the initial samples.
(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
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