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Groundwater Modeling Results from the Contingency Plan for Groundwater Production Wells near the Bulk Fuels Facility
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BACKGROUND: On November 28, 2012 the Water Authority Governing Board authorized the Water Authority to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with Kirtland Air Force Base for development of a Contingency Plan for Water Authority wells threatened by the KAFB Bulk Fuels Facility spill. The plan was to be prepared by an independent contractor and funded by the Air Force Civil Engineering Center (AFCEC). On December 19th, 2012 the MOA was authorized and AFCEC procured CH2M Hill, an environmental and engineering firm, to prepare the contingency plan with input from AFCEC, KAFB, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Water Authority. As part of the contingency plan, a groundwater flow model was prepared to help determine optimal locations for the installation of sentinel wells for detecting the approach of the jet fuel plume towards the Water Authority's production wells. CH2M Hill has completed the groundwater model portion of the contingency plan. The full draft plan will be released for public comment in March of 2014.
SUMMARY: CH2M Hill's groundwater flow simulation (i.e., modeling) results show varying possibilities for movement of groundwater contaminated by the fuel spill, both in terms of time and of direction. Different assumptions for future pumping rates in the basin result in different flow paths of groundwater from the area of the spill to the production wells downgradient of the ethylene dibromide (EDB) plume. The model predicts that the plume may impact either the Ridgecrest Wells No. 3 and 5 in 26 to 40 years, and KAFB production well No. 3 in 10 to 22 years. The model is especially useful inasmuch as direction of travel of the EDB plume is as important as time of travel. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently released its own model for the KAFB BFF Spill, and in addition to the CH2M Hill model, two mo...
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