The Albuquerque Journal reports the well is the closest of four extraction wells to the source of the spill on the northern edge of boundaries at Kirtland Air Force Base.
Kathryn Lynnes, the Air Force’s senior adviser on the cleanup project, says the new extraction well will pump at a slower rate than the other three to avoid pulling other contaminants located near the source area.
The spill was the result of a leaking, underground pipe used to transport fuel that was discovered in 1999.
Since the beginning of the cleanup effort, more than 330 million gallons of contaminated groundwater have been pulled from the plume and purified.