Kirtland spill larger than previously believed

As much as 24 million gallons of jet fuel may have escaped from a decades-long leak in an underground Kirtland Air Force Base pipe, three times more than previously estimated, according to a new calculation by a New Mexico Environment Department scientist.

Officials cautioned that there is still a great deal of uncertainty about the number, and that they may never know how much fuel spilled. But new data from state-mandated monitoring wells show the fuel in soil beneath the spill site is more widespread that previously known.

The possibility that the spill might be larger than previously believed raised alarm bells at the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, which has two large water well fields near the contaminiation site.

“It scares the heck out of me,” said John Stomp, the Water Utility’s chief operations officer.

The estimate was brought to light by Dave McCoy of Citizen Action, an activist group based in Albuquerque that has been pushing the Air Force and other government agencies to act more quickly to deal with the problem.

“I think they’ve got to do more than they’re doing right now,” McCoy said in an interview Tuesday.

McCoy said the higher estimate suggests the fuel spill could be significantly harder to clean up than previously believed.

An Air Force spokeswoman did not dispute the new numbers, saying there is no way of knowing for sure how much fuel is underground but that the Air Force is committed to cleaning it up. “Any estimate is speculative in nature,” said Marie Vanover.

We’ll have more in tomorrow’s newspaper.