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summer of 2010; (5 years later). For the first time, I read a newspaper article, concerning the jet-fuel spill (chemical dump) which was located just east about 40 yards from the VA Medical Center. A water engineer, who is also a consultant to the County Water Authority in Albuquerque, New Mexico, put the spill at 240 million gallons of jet-fuel, which could contaminate the drinking water in Albuquerque. From the get-go, I thought this wasw a scandal...negligence and cover-up on the part of the Air Force. It was probably a whistle-blower or a reporter that broke the story in 2010. All of my adult life, I have read the local newspaper, and I had never heard of this spill or chemical dump until the summer of 2010
Albuquerque, New Mexico is a city of over 500,000 residents, and I think the southeast heights, where the three bases are located, is the biggest quantdrant in the city at about 200,000 residents, and if something awful were to happen in this part of the city, it would make the Love Canal look like a Girl Scout picnic.
I moved into the neighborhood a year earlier in 2009, so I would not think of moving out of the neighborhood, on one newspaper article, I had to see if there were more public health threats in the future. As it turned out, there were at least one newspaper article on the matter until the end of 2010. I was now getting concerned.
I would have never moved into this neighborhood, if I had known about the fuel spill and the public health risk. At the time, I collected these newspaper, but I had no idea what I was going to do with them, etc.
War and Peace and the Bible have already been written, so I will try to keep this piece short and to the point...a summary of the events that has happened since I firse read about the chemical dump.
Combustibility of jet fuel: I don't know what this is, and most people don't know, either, but I think this will be the first test for the neighborhoods surrounding Kirtland AFB. Just for a moment, imagine lightning strikes in the neighborhoods and on the tarmac on the base. The Fire Marshall in a state yields great powers...right below a federal judge and the governor. If traces of jet fuel are found on a property, especially apartment houses...the property will be condemned. A red tag on the door, is as good as a court order. People living in aopartments will have to move, and the employees will be out of a job.
The southeast heights of Albuquerque is THICK with apartment buildings, and if traces of jet fuel are found...means that the building could be condemed, and the tenants would have to move. I think the sickness of the residents surrounding the base, will come later, and I suggest that there will be many lawsuits, mostly directed at the government officials, the base commander and to the apartment managers and landlords, who are in charge of keeping their tenants safe.
As a veteran, I was declared disabled by the VA in 2005, and by Social Security later that year. After a two year waiting period, I was elegible for Medicare, and I left the VA Medical Center, and joined the Presbyterian Health (HMO). Three months later, my primary doctor left the state for the east coast, and I was assigned another primary doctor at the Prebyterial North campus on the north side of Albuquerque, I used to live across the street at Lincoln Heights in 1995, and I lived there for a year, so I am quite familiar with the area.
After my visit with my primary doctor, I decided to take a little time and to take a walk up and down the street, to find out how the old neighborhood had changed over the 18 years I was gone. I was amazed at the changes...and the growth...all medical offices and medical clinics. There was NO retail of any kind...burger joints; 7-11 and so forth. It was at this time, that I thought it would be a good idea to move back to the old neighborhood, and I would have so many medical fascilities at my finger-tips.
In early 2012, I decided to start working on the move, and I had closet space, so I started collecting boxes of every size for the move. But, it wasn't to be...as the Big Bad Wolf paid me a visit and handed me a present in the form of a STROKE...and I spent a month in the hospital and in rehab learning to walk all over again...just like a one year old baby. When I was discharged from the hospital, I was on a walker for the next six months and trying to recover from the stroke. Because of this event, there would be NO moving...as I would try again at some other time.
To move or not to move?; This was not a question of IF...it was a question of WHEN. Meanwhile...back at the ranch...as Bill Richardson, the governor of New Mexico, at the time, would crack the whip on Kirtland AFB and demand answers. When Bill Richardson left office after eight years, he was followed by the sissy Susana Martinez, and I knew those of us who had worked on the problem were in quick-sand in resolving this problem. Susana Martinez, in one of her first moves, sent a kissy-kissy letter to the Secretary of the Air Force, telling him he had the state's cooperation in cleaning up the spill and she dissapeared to polish her 'rising star.' If the governor lived where I live...only one mile from ground ZERO, she would have a different attitude! But no...she lives in her ivory tower in Santa FE...60 miles away!
The ugly face of radiation! Apathy rules...
The apathy shown by elected officials and by the residents and employees located near the air force base. Why is it, that disaster has to happen before any action is taken be officials? I suscribe to a newsletter by one of the watchdog organizations, and about 3ix months ago (June, 2013) there was an article about radio-active parts were being dumped illegally by Sandia Labs, which is located on Kirtland AFB and part of the Energy Department, etc. THIS SEALED THE DEAL FOR ME...I want no part of radiation! Remember at the opening of this piece, I talked about how sick I was during my stay at the VA Medical Center, located right next to the air force base, with ground zero located near by? I think it was due to comtaminated water, and there was a big cover-up at the VA Medical Center.
During this time, I learned about a Senior Apartments down the street from Lincoln Heights called Brentwood Gardens, which is a HUD subsidy apartments. and so I applied and got accepted and on the waiting list, and now I am all packed up, and the apartment has been cleaned, and I'm ready to move with a phone call.
It's better to be safe...than SORRY...
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