[CPEO-MEF] Cleanup of Kelly water begins

[CPEO Moderator <cpeo@cpeo.org>]

Texas
SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS NEWS
Cleanup of Kelly water begins
By Jerry Needham
08/03/2003 12:00 AM

Air Force contractors are loading the ground with iron filings at parts
of the former Kelly AFB in an effort to clean up solvents that have
polluted a shallow layer of groundwater.

The technology also is planned for use in three long trenches in
neighborhoods near the installation to strip pollutants from groundwater
that has drifted miles off base.

Dumping 12 feet of iron filings in a 30-foot-deep trench that taps
slightly into the Navarro Clay formation, the contractors are building
what's called a permeable reactive barrier around part of Building 360.
Solvents spilled inside the structure, known as the old Air Force Engine
Repair Building, leaked underneath.

At the privatized KellyUSA, the huge U-shaped building now houses
Lockheed Martin in the east wing and Standard Aero in the west wing.

As the name implies, the 21/2-foot-thick permeable reactive barrier
allows groundwater to flow through. The iron, however, reacts with the
primary pollutant — perchloroethene or PCE — to chemically strip
chlorine atoms and form harmless compounds such as water.

Officials say there will be no long-term consequences from leaving the
iron underground. This particular type of iron inhibits rust.

Air Force modeling shows the barriers, along with a group of extraction
wells, should reduce pollutant levels in the off-base groundwater by 62
percent in five years and 99 percent in a decade.

This article can be viewed at:
http://news.mysanantonio.com/story.cfm?xla=saen&xlb=180&xlc=1034408

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