Officials to mark 'milestone' in Kirtland fuel spill cleanup

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Officials are marking a milestone in the cleanup of a massive plume of jet fuel at the edge of Albuquerque.

Gov. Susana Martinez, members of the state's congressional delegation and other officials are scheduled Thursday to join U.S. Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James at Kirtland Air Force Base to mark the extraction and treatment of some of the contaminated water.

First detected in 1999, the fuel leak is believed to have been seeping into the ground for decades. Estimates of the amount of fuel spilled range from 6 million to 24 million gallons.

The greatest concern has been that the spill would contaminate drinking water wells in the Southeast Heights.

The pump-and-treat system is part of an effort to keep the contamination from reaching those wells.

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