Environmental advisers say Kirtland AFB cleanup efforts on track

  • Published
  • By Wayne Bitner
  • 377th Civil Engineer Division
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, New Mexico --  A team of Air Force experts and consulting scientists recently reviewed the environmental cleanup efforts at Kirtland AFB and recognized the progress made by Kirtland AFB's managers. Due in part to the aggressive program in place at Kirtland AFB, the team concluded that base environmental officials are on track to meet the Air Force goal of implementing "Remedy-in-Place" by 2012. 

The expert review is part of a unique program sponsored by the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment to assist bases by providing an intense, week-long evaluation of cleanup efforts to ensure they are protective, efficient, timely, and that decision-makers are informed. These Environmental Restoration Program Optimization reviews are conducted to accelerate the closure of sites that are poised to enter the final stages of environmental cleanup. 

ERP-Os led to the closure of 45 specific polluted sites on Air Education and Training Command bases last year and have sped up the pace of closures by a minimum of 5 years across the board. 

The reviews promote cost-effective cleanups with an emphasis on effectiveness. Kirtland AFB Cleanup Manager Wayne Bitner invited the ERP-O team to review remedial efforts to ensure cleanups are protective and promote a range of other health, community, administrative, and pollution-reduction benefits. 

The ERP-O team of engineers, scientists, and environmental experts walk base sites where contamination is being addressed, study reports, and perform new analysis of information before briefing base managers and others after days of careful review. In addition, the team collaborates with Kirtland AFB cleanup managers and staff to refine the recommendations and will include field review to confirm scientific results upon request. 

"The ERP-O review points the way toward key steps that will improve the performance and management of the Air Force cleanup program, accelerate discussions with state regulators, and foster a collaborative effort to shorten the timeline for site closure," said Don White an AFCEE Restoration Program Management Office representative. 

At Kirtland AFB during the week of Oct. 20-24, the ERP-O advisers offered specific recommendations for landfills, lagoons, and other environmental sites and general recommendations for other areas of the base. They also highlighted a unique and innovative base practice of pumping nitrates from under Kirtland AFB and reusing them as fertilizer on the base golf course. 

The advisers recommended continuing to respond aggressively to a fuel spill by drawing out contaminated air in the soil to both investigate the extent of the spill and cleanup the fuel. Another bulk fuel plume under the base needs to be further investigated to understand its boundaries, the team found. If implemented, these recommendations could ensure the site is environmentally safe and save Air Force resources by better characterizing the fuels and breakdown products requiring cleanup. 

The experts emphasized that careful updates to "conceptual site models" that depict subsurface soils and pollutants would aid decision-making and communication with key stakeholders. 

Kirtland AFB cleanup officials are successfully working with contractors to meet broader Air Force goals of having cleanups in place at all bases by 2012. As this work progresses, the Kirtland AFB environmental team can update reports and address some data gaps as they plan for closeout with New Mexico and federal regulators, especially as responsibility for the next phases of site cleanup will be assumed by the AFCEE in 2009. This will involve crafting overall strategic documents and exit strategies with decision points as cleanup goals are achieved. 

For more information on the ERP-O program, see the description on the AFCEE web site: www.afcee.brooks.af.mil/products/rpo/default.asp.

Editors note: In the last five years, Kirtland AFB Environmental Restoration has closed out an unprecedented 199 out of 256 sites and received no further action status from the New Mexico Environment Department. Another 22 sites are currently pending NFA status from NMED. Contributors to this article were Steve Gibb, Noblis; Javier Santillan, AFCEE Technical Division and Don White, AFCEE Restoration Program Management Office.