from the New Mexico Independent
By Trip Jennings, Marjorie Childress 07/11/2008
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ALBUQUERQUE -- Air force officials said Friday that 12 groundwater wells would be dug over the next year to monitor a long-term leak of jet fuel that has migrated off Kirtland Air Force and into the groundwater table nearby.
The fuel was discovered on the groundwater table in December 2007 after several years of tracking fuel from a leak detected in 1999, according to a Kirtland Air Force Base press release.
"An interim remediation system has also been installed to initiate removal of the fuel from the groundwater," a press release said Friday of the original leak. "The interim remediation system is removing liquid fuel from the groundwater and collecting it at the surface for recycling." Later, air force officials clarified that the fuel contamination had not made it to drinking water wells nearby.
The proposed wells will serve two purposes, said John Pike, chief of natural resources management at Kirtland Air Force Base: to determine the size and extent of the contamination in the groundwater and to ensure that the spreading of the fuel contamination doesn't get to several nearby wells that produce drinking water for the base, the Veteran Affairs Administration and the city of Albuquerque.
Air force officials briefed Albuquerque city officials Friday morning on the development.
City Councilor Rey Garduno, one of the officials briefed, said he was told that the leak is from fuel that hasn't been used since 1974. Garduno said he asked if the leakage had been happening since 1974 and was told that the Airforce "didn't know."
"It's a plume about two blocks wide and five blocks long, from a fuel storage facility near the northern boundary of KAFB," Garduno said.
"They've known about the leak for awhile and have remediated 130,000 gallons so far—which tells us it's quite large," Garduno said. "They hadn't told the public up until now because they thought it was contained within the base. But apparently, it hit clay and began flowing north to northeast, off the base. The neighborhood affected is the Ridgecrest community just south of Gibson."
Kirtland spokesman Michael Kleiman said the fuel migrating north to northeast and past the base boundary is from the same jet fuel leak discovered in 1999. The leak was caused by a corroded pipe leaking fuel. The leak is believed to have started sometime in the past 40 or 50 years, but it is unclear how long the leak continued. It is from this leak that officials have cleaned up 130,000 gallons of fuel vapors found in the soil, he said.
Garduno said he asked air force officials several questions around the groundwater contamination.
"I asked if it was possible it was causing air contamination, by evaporating up to the topsoil and into the air," Garduno said. "They said they hadn't had an opportunity to test the air but assured me that they would conduct those tests."
Kleiman said it was important to note that no contamination of drinking water wells had been discovered. He added that a $2.8 million contract to dig and install the 12 wells should be let by this fall, with drilling starting soon afterward. All 12 wells should be in the ground by next summer, Kleiman said, and there are no public safety concerns at this time.
A Kirtland air force base press release said that the "leaking pipes have been removed from service and the existing fuel distribution system tested and to date, no additional leakage has been detected." The release also said air force officials had been working "very closely with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Groundwater Quality Bureau (GWB) since 1999 "to identify and institute appropriate remedial actions and to conduct further investigation in order to assess the extent of impacts to the groundwater."
The release said Kirtland has closely monitored the base and Veterans Affairs Hospital water production wells and has verified no impacts to these wells.
The Kirtland and Veterans Affairs wells, located approximately 1,000-2,000 feet away from the edge of the known plume, are tested quarterly and the City of Albuquerque’s wells, located approximately 1.5 miles away from the edge of the known plume, are tested annually.
Kirtland AFB will provide periodic updates of its ongoing fuel release investigation and remediation efforts to the New Mexico Environment Department, Albuquerque Bernalillo County Water Utility Authority, City of Albuquerque Environmental Health Department, the Veterans Affairs Hospital and any potentially affected neighborhood associations adjacent to the base.
Garduno said that he "asked that we have some very open, public meetings, so that the public could be informed and have their questions answered. They assured me that they would do that in the next two weeks."
In addition to periodic updates, the base will be scheduling public meetings in the upcoming weeks to further discuss current and future remediation efforts. Kirtland will also hold its regularly scheduled public meeting on environmental issues on Oct. 16, 2008, at the Cesar Chavez Community Center. Subject matter experts will be available at all meetings to provide detailed information and answer any questions. Members of the public are welcome and encouraged to attend.
"I commend the AFB for coming forward with the information, since it has such a negative aspect to it," Garduno said. "Now we need a very open and public discussion with full assurances that the air force will fully discover the extent of the contamination and its effects, and take responsibility for complete remediation for any contamination from this fuel leak."
Showing posts with label new mexico independent. Show all posts
Showing posts with label new mexico independent. Show all posts
Monday, July 14, 2008
Friday, July 11, 2008
Strength of the Native American Voting Bloc
Below is an article by Rebecca Ford, from the New Mexico Independent, that focuses on the mobilization of Native American voters in Albuquerque. This is a great article that commends the work of our friends from SAGE Council.
SAGE Council is doing amazing work in the Native American community, and we thank them for empowering Native American voice.
Vying for Native American Votes
By Rebecca Ford 07/10/2008 158 Views -->
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ALBUQUERQUE -- Native American voters, often treated as an afterthought in presidential elections, are receiving an unprecedented amount of attention from both presidential candidates this year in the battleground state of New Mexico.
It's a development nearly two decades in the making in which a handful of Albuquerque–based activists have been working to create a well-organized and powerful Native American voice.
Today, with 63,000 registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, Native Americans may well be the swing constituency in one of the most politically volatile states in the country.
The Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council, founded in 1996 by brother and sister Sonny and Laurie Weahkee, was formed to protest the construction of a road through the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque's fast-growing westside. The city planned to build the road through the site, considered sacred to all of the state's pueblos, in order to ease traffic congestion for many commuters.
“A lot of people don’t realize that there’s not really a separation between the earth and the way we practice our cultures and our traditions,” said Sonny Weahkee. The petroglyphs, some of which are over 3,000 years old according to park officials, are still used for religious ceremonies by some tribes today.
The Weahkees and their fellow activists did everything they could to stop the road from being built: collected signed petitions, spoke out at council meetings, and tried to block funding for the construction. Sonny and Laurie were even arrested, along with five other SAGE Council members, when they tried to physically stand in the way of the construction of the road.
“At that time, we started to realize that the City of Albuquerque wasn’t going to move, no matter how many people we packed into the city council office,” said Sonny Weahkee, a Cochiti and Zuni Pueblo member. “They were never ever going to vote on our side.”
The road was built in 2005. While the SAGE Council lost that battle, they learned an important lesson: in order for their voice to be heard, they had to mobilize the Native American vote.
“If we stand together and vote together on whatever issue, we can start to gain some momentum and start turning people's heads,” said Sonny Weahkee.
The SAGE Council created the Native American Voters Alliance, a network of Native Americans living in Albuquerque and rural areas of New Mexico. They registered voters at office buildings, and at the Albuquerque Indian Center. There would be long lines of Native Americans, many of whom had never before been asked to register. The Native American Voters Alliance went from a handful of members to over 6,700 participants.
“The SAGE Council has probably done more for registering Native American voters, identifying registered Native American voters, keeping tabs on them, educating them on important issues, and making sure they get out to vote than any other group,” said Laura Harris, executive director of Americans for Indian Opportunity, an Albuquerque-based group which encourages Native American leadership.
The SAGE Council tries to contact their thousands of members seven times before an election to educate them on what they deem issues important to Native Americans, and then encourage them to vote.
This year, Laurie Weahkee became one of only four Native American superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. She endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama in May.
“He seems to be a lot more interested on root causes of things rather than a band-aid approach,” said Laurie Weahkee.
She adds that the Native American vote is strong enough to make a real difference this year in a state that could be won or lost by hundreds of votes.
“The Native American vote is really critical,” said Laurie Weahkee. “I think it’s even more important as Native people that we really are studying the different current issues and who is speaking to those particular platforms or solutions and then from there choosing our candidates.”
Weahkee also encourages Native people to become involved in politics at any level. While New Mexico has yet to have a Native American member of Congress, there have been several Native politicians in local and state government positions.
“I see a lot more Native people participating and willing to get more involved at the local level, which I think then translates to participating in the electoral process on a larger statewide and federal level,” she said.
An army of activists
Many of the participants from the SAGE Council went on to establish and work for other Native American activists groups in New Mexico. Their efforts to mobilize the Native American vote come with their own distinct set of challenges.
Amber Carillo, who joined the SAGE Council at its birth, went on to work for the All Indian Pueblo Council, which represents 19 pueblos in New Mexico. She continues to actively pursue registering new Native American voters and encouraging those who are registered to go out to vote.
“It’s important to me to really emphasize that having Native folks participate in the decisions that impact them on a daily basis is really the core of what they need to embrace,” said Carillo, who is a board member of the SAGE Council. “There is a great deal of power that we can garner and the was can use.”
There are unique obstacles to registering Native Americans, Carillo added, as many tribal members feel that participating in the federal system can jeopardize their own way of life.
“What I always want to emphasize is that we don’t have to compromise the integrity of our traditions in order to participate,” said Carillo. “I think that if we understand and embrace certain aspects of the American political system that we could actually strengthen where we’re at in terms of preserving who we are.”
Keegan King, who also worked with the SAGE Council and is now director of New Mexico Youth Organized, a group that aims to engage young people in the political process, agreed that Native Americans can be disengaged from politics.
“To Native folks, if we’re working in a rural area or on a reservation there are a lot of times when you find people that say, ‘Why should I get involved? We have our own tribal elections,’” said King. “We’re not living in a bubble. We can retain our traditions but we also need to learn and adapt to our neighbors.”
King, a member of Acoma Pueblo, said he has seen a real increase in voter participation in the Native American community, but also feels there is still a long way to go.
“It’s about our Native people ready to take that step and really start investing in the system that hasn’t always worked for us," King said. "But [it] can if we get involved,”
SAGE Council is doing amazing work in the Native American community, and we thank them for empowering Native American voice.
Vying for Native American Votes
By Rebecca Ford 07/10/2008 158 Views -->
-->
ALBUQUERQUE -- Native American voters, often treated as an afterthought in presidential elections, are receiving an unprecedented amount of attention from both presidential candidates this year in the battleground state of New Mexico.
It's a development nearly two decades in the making in which a handful of Albuquerque–based activists have been working to create a well-organized and powerful Native American voice.
Today, with 63,000 registered voters, according to the Secretary of State’s Office, Native Americans may well be the swing constituency in one of the most politically volatile states in the country.
The Sacred Alliance for Grassroots Equality (SAGE) Council, founded in 1996 by brother and sister Sonny and Laurie Weahkee, was formed to protest the construction of a road through the Petroglyph National Monument on Albuquerque's fast-growing westside. The city planned to build the road through the site, considered sacred to all of the state's pueblos, in order to ease traffic congestion for many commuters.
“A lot of people don’t realize that there’s not really a separation between the earth and the way we practice our cultures and our traditions,” said Sonny Weahkee. The petroglyphs, some of which are over 3,000 years old according to park officials, are still used for religious ceremonies by some tribes today.
The Weahkees and their fellow activists did everything they could to stop the road from being built: collected signed petitions, spoke out at council meetings, and tried to block funding for the construction. Sonny and Laurie were even arrested, along with five other SAGE Council members, when they tried to physically stand in the way of the construction of the road.
“At that time, we started to realize that the City of Albuquerque wasn’t going to move, no matter how many people we packed into the city council office,” said Sonny Weahkee, a Cochiti and Zuni Pueblo member. “They were never ever going to vote on our side.”
The road was built in 2005. While the SAGE Council lost that battle, they learned an important lesson: in order for their voice to be heard, they had to mobilize the Native American vote.
“If we stand together and vote together on whatever issue, we can start to gain some momentum and start turning people's heads,” said Sonny Weahkee.
The SAGE Council created the Native American Voters Alliance, a network of Native Americans living in Albuquerque and rural areas of New Mexico. They registered voters at office buildings, and at the Albuquerque Indian Center. There would be long lines of Native Americans, many of whom had never before been asked to register. The Native American Voters Alliance went from a handful of members to over 6,700 participants.
“The SAGE Council has probably done more for registering Native American voters, identifying registered Native American voters, keeping tabs on them, educating them on important issues, and making sure they get out to vote than any other group,” said Laura Harris, executive director of Americans for Indian Opportunity, an Albuquerque-based group which encourages Native American leadership.
The SAGE Council tries to contact their thousands of members seven times before an election to educate them on what they deem issues important to Native Americans, and then encourage them to vote.
This year, Laurie Weahkee became one of only four Native American superdelegates to the Democratic National Convention in Denver. She endorsed presumptive Democratic presidential nominee Sen. Barack Obama in May.
“He seems to be a lot more interested on root causes of things rather than a band-aid approach,” said Laurie Weahkee.
She adds that the Native American vote is strong enough to make a real difference this year in a state that could be won or lost by hundreds of votes.
“The Native American vote is really critical,” said Laurie Weahkee. “I think it’s even more important as Native people that we really are studying the different current issues and who is speaking to those particular platforms or solutions and then from there choosing our candidates.”
Weahkee also encourages Native people to become involved in politics at any level. While New Mexico has yet to have a Native American member of Congress, there have been several Native politicians in local and state government positions.
“I see a lot more Native people participating and willing to get more involved at the local level, which I think then translates to participating in the electoral process on a larger statewide and federal level,” she said.
An army of activists
Many of the participants from the SAGE Council went on to establish and work for other Native American activists groups in New Mexico. Their efforts to mobilize the Native American vote come with their own distinct set of challenges.
Amber Carillo, who joined the SAGE Council at its birth, went on to work for the All Indian Pueblo Council, which represents 19 pueblos in New Mexico. She continues to actively pursue registering new Native American voters and encouraging those who are registered to go out to vote.
“It’s important to me to really emphasize that having Native folks participate in the decisions that impact them on a daily basis is really the core of what they need to embrace,” said Carillo, who is a board member of the SAGE Council. “There is a great deal of power that we can garner and the was can use.”
There are unique obstacles to registering Native Americans, Carillo added, as many tribal members feel that participating in the federal system can jeopardize their own way of life.
“What I always want to emphasize is that we don’t have to compromise the integrity of our traditions in order to participate,” said Carillo. “I think that if we understand and embrace certain aspects of the American political system that we could actually strengthen where we’re at in terms of preserving who we are.”
Keegan King, who also worked with the SAGE Council and is now director of New Mexico Youth Organized, a group that aims to engage young people in the political process, agreed that Native Americans can be disengaged from politics.
“To Native folks, if we’re working in a rural area or on a reservation there are a lot of times when you find people that say, ‘Why should I get involved? We have our own tribal elections,’” said King. “We’re not living in a bubble. We can retain our traditions but we also need to learn and adapt to our neighbors.”
King, a member of Acoma Pueblo, said he has seen a real increase in voter participation in the Native American community, but also feels there is still a long way to go.
“It’s about our Native people ready to take that step and really start investing in the system that hasn’t always worked for us," King said. "But [it] can if we get involved,”
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