At some point this year, personnel at Joint Base Andrews realized they were missing tens of thousands of gallons of jet fuel.
The base’s fuel system had failed a leak safety test in early December. In January and February, it had lost about 10,000 gallons of jet fuel, but staff believed the leak was contained to the base. Then on March 23, someone on the base spotted oil on the freshwater creek that starts on the sprawling Prince George’s County, Maryland military facility.
That day the Defense Department finally called the state.