Bulk fuels facility a cleaner, safer storage solution Published March 6, 2014 By Lee Ross Nucleus editor KIRTLAND AIR FORCE BASE, N.M. -- Dramatic improvements have been made to the Kirtland Air Force Base Bulk Fuels Storage area. The $11.5 million system, completed in April 2011, has an extensive series of safeguards to protect against fuel leaks and track all the gas that enters or exits the facility, according to Charles Matthews-Huffman, the deputy senior logistics manager for the 377th Logistics Readiness Squadron. "This is why we invest in infrastructure," he said. "The fuel-plume issue will never happen again." The "fuel plume" is the result of jet fuel that leaked from underground pipes at the old facility. The leak was discovered in 1999 and was thought to be a problem only in the soil under the facility. Fuel contamination in the aquifer 500 feet underground was discovered in 2007. Since that time, Kirtland has been involved in an expanded Resource Conservation and Recovery Act process to address and clean up the fuel plume. In a parallel effort, Kirtland's fuel management facilities were completely rebuilt through a military construction project started in December 2009. According to a paper on the background of that project, the old facility was a "post-World War II system constructed in the 1940s." One of the major concerns at the old facility was the system of underground pipes. The lack of visibility is part of the reason the failure of those pipes wasn't detected until 1999, according to Travis Sanders of Akima Technical Solutions, a company that helps manage the bulk fuels facility. All the pipes at the new facility are aboveground, or in an open air trench, where a leak would be seen immediately. The trenches are encased in concrete and covered with heavy steel grates so trucks can pass over the pipes. Sanders added that the new facility also employs a better tracking system for the fuel. "If you have a fuel leak, phones are going to start ringing," he said. At the antiquated facility, fuel levels were tracked using what amounted to a dipstick that was lowered into the fuel tank once a day and the fuel depth was logged by hand. At the new facility -- which stores more than 3 million gallons of jet fuel in two aboveground storage tanks -- fuel levels are tracked continually by an electronic sensor that measures the depth to within 1/8 of an inch. The fuel-level information is recorded by three computers housed in a main control building and the fuel levels are monitored 24 hours a day. Sanders said all the records should reflect the same amount of fuel going in and out of the tanks. If the logs show a variation of more than .25 percent, his company is required to launch an investigation. There is also a slope-sided concrete pad designed to capture any fuels that might be spilled as trucks load or unload the storage tanks. Spilled fuel and other liquids are funneled into a detainment pond until it can be disposed of properly.