Base hosts tour of Bulk Fuels Facility

  • Published
  • By Kirtland Public Affairs
KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. --  Members of the base community toured Kirtland's Bulk Fuels Facility Oct. 24 to learn more about a 1999 fuel spill and the base's cleanup efforts.

Participants were able to view the facility and the temporary and full-scale treatment systems, and receive information from Air Force scientists and geologists, including Adria Bodour, lead scientist on the project from the Air Force Civil Engineer Center in San Antonio, Texas.

Bodour said the cleanup will take time and cost money. She said they are still in the process of determining a cost estimate for the project, which has involved drilling wells, constructing systems for removing contaminants from soil and filtering them from groundwater, and collecting data and analysis.

In August, the base marked an important milestone in the efforts remediate contamination from a leak at the BFF with the installation of a pump-and-treat water system and the successful extraction and treatment of ethylene dibromide contamination. The system went online June 4 and has treated more than two million gallons of water.

Two more extraction wells and three monitoring wells are planned for drilling this year. The monitoring wells are intended to help further define the extent of the contamination.