ALBUQUERQUE BERNALILLO COUNTY
WATER UTILITY AUTHORITY
BILL NO. R-12-13 F/S (2) |
RESOLUTION
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Authorizing an Agreement with the Kirtland Air Force Base for Protecting Albuquerque's Drinking Water and Contingency Plan Coordination
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WHEREAS, the Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority (Water Authority) was established to provide safe and sustainable water supply for the Albuquerque metropolitan area; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority has worked diligently to conserve water usage and invested more than $500 million in the San Juan-Chama Drinking Water Project to preserve and protect the aquifer and the regional water supply; and
WHEREAS, a former Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB) bulk fuel facility leaked an estimated 24,000,000 gallons of aviation gas and jet fuel, creating what may be the largest spill of this type in the history of the United States (U.S.); and
WHERAS, the jet fuel plume has and continues to migrate from the source and represents a significant threat to the downgradient municipal water supply wells; and
WHEREAS, a concentrated plume of aviation gas and jet fuel containing benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, xylene, ethylene dibromide (EDB) and other organic compounds is dissolving into the groundwater and extends at least a mile from its source; and
WHEREAS, The U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry characterizes Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) breakdown in ground water as "hardly at all"; and
WHEREAS, the dissolved phase plume as represented by ethylene dibromide (EDB) may arrive at the Water Authority's Ridgecrest Well Number 5 within five years; and
WHEREAS, KAFB continues to investigate and is actively remediating the fuel spill in the vadose zone using soil vapor extraction technologies; and,
WHEREAS, KAFB has not proposed to contain or extract the dissolved phase plume; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority, KAFB and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) have been working cooperatively and productively towards ensuring that the drinking water supply for the City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County is safe for consumption; and
WHEREAS, the U.S. Air Force has pledged to fund contingency projects, in the event a Water Authority well or wells are impacted by the fuel plume; and
WHEREAS, the Water Authority and KAFB have executed an existing Memorandum of Agreement providing the Water Authority the provision to receive reimbursements for costs related to additional well sampling related to the KAFB Bulk Fuel Facility Spill; and
WHEREAS, the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is recognized as an independent agency with experts having broad knowledge and research experience with the geological and water resources of the Albuquerque Basin.
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE WATER AUTHORITY:
Section 1. Water Authority will enter into an agreement with KAFB to include activities related to monitoring, treatment technologies, contingency planning, and implementation in the event that a Water Authority production well or wells is affected by the KAFB Bulk Fuel Facility spill.
Section 2. Water Authority will work with KAFB, NMED and the USGS on the placement of additional monitoring wells, including sentinel wells within the wellhead protection areas, to assist with the projection of the dissolved phase plume towards the Water Utility's Ridgecrest Well Field and production zone.
Section 3. Water Authority will determine the cost of wellhead treatment, well replacement, and related infrastructure costs to be considered in the contingency and implementation plan.
Section 4. Water Authority will request KAFB to submit a work plan for an aggressive final remedy for cleanup of the spill in the vadose zone and the ground water for public review and NMED approval by December 31, 2013, to receive NMED's approval of the work plan by June 30, 2014, and installation and startup of the final remedy by December 31, 2014.
Section 5. The Executive Director is authorized to enter into an agreement (Exhibit A) with KAFB to provide funding by KAFB for costs related to contingency planning and implementation projects.
Section 6. The Executive Director is authorized to amend the existing Joint Funding Agreement with the USGS for water resources investigations to include activities related to sighting and drilling wells to augment the regional monitoring well network in the area of the Ridgecrest Well Field.