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State Criticizes Kirtland Cleanup Proposal

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  ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico environmental regulators are criticizing Kirtland Air Force Base's proposal for cleaning up a massive underground fuel leak, saying it would threaten Albuquerque's water supply.

Kirtland's plan centers on using a Kirtland water well to remove fuel-contaminated groundwater to keep it away from a neighborhood where municipal drinking wells are located. The contaminated water then would be treated to meet drinking water standards.

However, the Albuquerque Journal reports that the state Environment Department concluded in a letter that the proposed strategy would help spread the contamination toward the municipal water supply.

A consultant for the metro area's water authority said the Kirtland proposal wouldn't succeed because it wouldn't remove enough water to divert the main flow of contamination.

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