ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The Air Force says it still hasn’t determined the extent of contamination from a fuel leak discovered 15 years ago at a New Mexico base, and it wants some reports on the leak tossed.
The Albuquerque Journal reports base commander Col. Tom Miller last week asked state regulators to withdraw some Air Force reports citing clerical errors and “data gaps” involving the Kirtland Air Force Base leak.
Officials say among the data gaps is a lack of information about how deep into Albuquerque’s aquifer the contamination has reached.
The Air Force agreed it needs to drill more monitoring wells in the southeast Albuquerque neighborhood adjacent to the base to try to answer that question.
The spill was discovered in 1999 when Kirtland officials found a leaking pipe. It contaminated groundwater for more than a mile beneath Kirtland and southeast Albuquerque.
