[CPEO-MEF] Air Force to cleanup contamination near Kelly AFB

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Air Force to cleanup contamination near Kelly Air Force Base 
The Associated Press 
Web Posted : 06/09/2002 2:10 PM 

The U.S. Air Force is proposing a $19.4 million cleanup of the 
contamination that has seeped under 20,000 homes adjacent to Kelly Air 
Force Base.

The proposal comes 17 years after pollutants were discovered in a 
shallow aquifer at Kelly, which closed 11 months ago.

The 5-mile-long plume is composed of degreasing agents and 
paint-removing solvents. The chlorinated solvents were spilled, leaked 
or dumped during aircraft maintenance activities.

Air Force officials chose one of the least expensive options for cleanup 
of the neighborhoods affected by the decades of industrial work done at 
the former air logistics center.

The Air Force, in late 2000, unveiled 10 options for cleaning up 
groundwater beneath the homes, ranging from complex methods costing up 
to $300 million to less aggressive strategies costing about $15 million.

"We feel the preferred option is the best one because it can be 
installed relatively quickly, with less disruption to the 
neighborhoods," William Ryan, environmental coordinator at Kelly for the 
Air Force Base Conversion Agency, told the San Antonio Express-News for 
its Sunday editions.

The crux of the plan involves letting nature take its course. The 
strategy, known as natural attenuation, eventually would result in the 
dilution, biodegradation and dispersal of the lower concentrations of 
chemicals farthest from the base, officials said.

This article can be viewed in its entirety at:
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=apwire&xlc=726574

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