European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 26, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 4 stars and stripes thursday april 26 2007 50000 Gallons of fuel missing after no sign of water contamination found after pipeline punctured by Geoff Ziezulewicz stars and stripes Raf Mildenhall England Crews were working at this air base wednesday to determine the location of More than 50000 Gal Lons of Jet fuel that spilled from a ruptured fuel line last week the spill happened Friday night when a contractor working on the runway ran a Drill through a buried 10inch fuel line said it col Scott Hartford the 100th civil engineering Squadron com Mander our fuel operators noticed a drop in the storage tank and we immediately ran the lines and Dis covered the Jet fuel bubbling up on the surface he said of the rup Ture which happened at pm Friday a 150squarefoot Patch of dead grass indicates where the fuel came up no evidence of water contamination has been found so far said Collette Nichols a spokeswoman for Anglian water services a Utility that supplies the area but there is concern that the fuel could eventually seep into the subterranean aquifer that sup plies the area with tap water she said Hartford said that there is considerable travel time before the fuel would get to any water sup ply Wells since the spill base officials and workers from the British ministry of defence mod have been trying to figure out just where the tens of thousands of Gal Lons of fuel have gone and the extent of the contamination Hart Ford said the fuel could be floating in ground water three to four meters beneath the surface or it May be saturated in dirt or Sand he said the groundwater table is currently High and that May make retrieval of the fuel easier said Ian Hill an environment team Leader with the British environment Agency while it could eventually sink Down to the aquifer that ground water right beneath the grounds surface is not the source of drink ing water trenches were dug on either Side of the punctured pipe wednesday and no fuel was found there suggesting that the fuel either Sank deeper into the ground or went through the Hole the contractors Drill had augured from the other Side of the taxi Way said Barry Stevens an environmental adviser with the mod at Mildenhall who was on site wednesday in the coming Days workers will dig Wells to figure out exactly where the fuel sits Hartford said and How Best to clean it up if the Oil is standing on ground water it May be pumped out he said if it has saturated soil or Sand enzymes and oxygen might have to be infused in the ground to digest the fuel base officials did not release in formation about the rupture until wednesday morning Hartford said the Public was not immediately notified because base personnel did not know where the rupture had occurred we wanted to get a message out and have some experts look ing at it Over the weekend Hart Ford said we wanted to make sure we were factual the environment Agency has opened an investigation into the spill Hill said while he would not name the contractor involved Hartford said the mod and the contractor were in discussions with air Force officials regarding the Inci Dent since the full extent of the work required is not yet known Hart Ford said he could not say How much the cleanup would Cost de pending on the current state of the fuel it could take weeks or months while Hartford would not say How much fuel the base stores he said the relative loss from the spill was minimal compared to Overall fuel Levels on base a kc135a aircraft one of the main planes at Mildenhall can hold More than 30000 Gallons of Jet fuel according to an air Force web site some aircraft Are being parked at alternate locations away from the spill site and trucks instead of the Standard tanks Are fueling some planes aside from a comment in a Mildenhall press release about working together officials with the Forest Heath District coun cil the local governing body out Side the base would not comment on the spill air Force officials said Hartford said the base would be requesting funding through us air forces in Europe and other defense department Agen cies to assist in the cleanup reporter Ben Murray contributed to this Story email Geoff Ziezulewicz acc photos by Sandra and stripes the above building houses new four bedroom apartments for offic ers at the support site base in a Sicignano Naples by september naval support activity Naples officials expect to have 114 new units available an open living room shown left is touted As a Selling Point for the new three bed room apartments Builtin closets a key luxury in new Naples housing units by Sandra Jontz stars and stripes Naples Italy officers soon will have a Chance to move into new americanized three and four bedroom apartments on the us navys base outside Naples featuring sought after upgrades like Builtin closets the housing at a Sicignano sup port site is expanding by 114 new units All designated for officers command master chiefs and civil ians who qualify the bulk of the new apartments should be finished by september but 36 officer apartments will be ready for move in by Early May said Linda crusing naval support activity Naples housing director the completed units will bring to 995 the total number of hous ing units on the support site base six of which Are single family houses for senior officers six Are townhouses and the remaining 983 Are officer and enlisted apart ments italian contractors built the family housing on the support site and True to most italia style Homes apartments didst come with the luxury of Builtin closets crusing said the new apart ments not Only have closets but Builtin sprinkler systems and a emergency shutoff valve in the event of a Gas leak military personnel will have priority but civilians can apply to rent the apartments crusing said while the houses Are built for Active duty military the base commander will consider renting to civilians because occupancy at the support site is Low she said the Navy leases the property from Mirabella and does not pay for the construction however the base rents the houses and the annual rent for 119 units the new 114 apartments and five Vil Las on the about Mil lion the breakdown translates to a Cost of about in rent a year for each apartment or House annual overseas housing allow Ance Caps for the eligible officers Range from to per year if they were to live on the Economy see where there is a tremendous savings for big Navy when All our units Are occupied crusing said by comparison the older apart ments rent for nearly a year for three bedroom units and nearly for the four bed Doorn unfortunately for Resi dents base officials have no plans to retrofit existing houses and apartments with the amenities email Sandra Jontz at police probe incident at airmans Home by Bryan Mitchell stars and stripes Raf Mildenhall special operations airman is under investigation for the unlicensed Possession of a firearm following an Earl morning incident at the airmans Mildenhall Home two weeks ago us air Force and British officials said the incident also has prompted an investigation into a possible assault As Well As a possible Home intrusion according to the Suffolk constabulary the constabulary has yet to make any arrests or file any charges in connection with the incident neither the air Force nor the Suffolk constabulary would identify the airman or the second suspect but it col Mark t Allison staff judge advocate of the 100th Legal office confirmed that the air Man is a member of the 352nd special operations group the probe began after the resident of a Home on Kings Way in Mildenhall called police shortly be fore 3 am on april 14 said Suffolk constabulary spokeswoman Lisa Crane the residents told police they thought an intruder was outside their Home Crane said when police arrived they found a Man outside of the Home he told police he was just looking into the House for a possible party and had spotted the air mans Shotgun sitting in Plain sight Allison said both the airman and the Man were questioned and released by police Crane said the airman explained to authorities that the Shotgun was unloaded Crane said obviously we treat this very seriously Crane said of the weapon it is illegal to possess any fire Arm without the relevant documents she said the incident has prompted three separate investigations one for a possible Home intruder an other for the unlicensed Possession of a firearm and a third for a possible assault Crane refused to say who allegedly was assaulted Allison and the 352nd spokesman master sgt Den Nis Brewer said the air Force is limited in what it can say about the incident because of an ongoing investigation by British authorities outside the air forces jurisdiction email Bryan Mitchell acc