The U.S. Air Force and New Mexico’s top environmental officials this week announced an oral agreement to expedite the cleanup of toxic chemicals in the Curry County aquifer around Cannon Air Force Base.
Officials said the agreement marks a “thaw” in a relationship that had been tense and litigated, as the U.S. Air Force agreed to pay for the national effort and provide technical assistance to collect water samples and clean up contamination around the base.
The contamination was first discovered in 2015, and the state has now identified a four-mile-long plume of firefighting foam containing per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances known as PFAS. These man-made chemicals are difficult to break down and can accumulate in water, soil, and human and animal bodies around the world, including Clovis. Since then, the U.S. Air Force has announced it has spent $74 million treating the contamination.
Highland Dairy, with state assistance, dumped thousands of gallons of PFAS-contaminated milk and euthanized 3,600 dairy cows in 2022 after a PFAS plume spread to private wells.
In March, state environmental officials entered into an agreement with four Curry County dairy farmers to test and potentially treat private wells for PFAS contamination, and state Environment Secretary James Kenney said Source NM was the “catalyst” that sparked a meeting with top U.S. Air Force officials.
“Dairy farmers around the base have agreed to allow the state access to their properties to characterize and remediate the plume, but the Air Force has so far been unable to accomplish this and have not been able to negotiate with landowners,” Kenney said.
The agreement was the result of a May 8 meeting in Washington, D.C., brokered by New Mexico Lt. Gov. Howie Morales, who chairs the state’s Military Bases Planning Commission, and Michael Borders Jr., assistant secretary of the Air Force for Energy, Equipment and Environment, and Kenney.
Morales said in a statement that his priority is to “maintain strong partnerships” with military installations and local communities.
“This oral agreement not only supports that mission, but also ensures that New Mexico farmers will be able to live, work and raise their families in Curry County for generations to come,” Morales said.
Borders said in a statement that the agreement “is an important step in advancing PFAS response efforts and strengthening our partnership with the region surrounding Cannon Air Force Base.”
The state is in a dispute with the U.S. Air Force in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Denver over New Mexico’s authority to require the federal government to comply with the state’s hazardous waste laws.
Kenney told Source NM that the oral agreement brings “some optimism after eight years of pessimism” to the relationship between the state and the Department of Defense.
“We now have a little bit more certainty about what the future holds for Curry County and what the future holds for Cannon Air Force Base,” Kenney said. “While we are still in litigation, it feels very positive to have reached this agreement.”
Kenney said he plans to return to Washington, D.C., next week to get the oral agreement into writing.
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