Seep 2008 Update -
Checked out the seep yesterday (July 16th 2008). Not much has changed other than the black seep area was a little drier at the time of the observation [9-10am], but moisture from cliff area may have changed drainage and is no longer feeding into the area - or at least as much.
Black seep area drier today [07-17-08]
Orange gunk and biofilm is still present - thought in the areas of the westerly and eastern ponded areas, the creek is higher and there is a brisk flow-through which seems to be preventing the gunk from becoming too prolific. However, on the photo to the right immediately below you can see how it is still pretty thick in areas above the water.
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[07-17-08] |
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Noted only one spot of a little biofilm in the grasses up on the newly wetted area by the base of the cliff.
[07-17-08]
Photographed a similar area with no biofilm some hundred yards downstream (photo below). This is a very wet area above a braid in West Divide Creek, perhaps a hundred and fifty yards downstream. This photograph is of a similar small, relatively isolated wet area. Same shady conditions, similar degree of wetness, similar vegetative growth, but only one area (photo above near seep site) exhibits biofilm. The photo above, by contrast, is what we normally see in association with wetland areas.
[07-17-08]
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Noted dark green, long feathery-like aquatic plants growing on rocks
adjacent to seep area - but no where else in the creek along probably a
hundred and fifty yard stretch (or anywhere else on our property that we
have observed - and we walked the entire length a week prior). These plants are probably
naturally responsive to
whatever else is present and relative to the seep dynamics, such as the
orange growth and biofilm - but again,
raises the question of the originating source.
This is a picture behind the black seep area where fluid (presumably water) has made its exit [07-17-08]
After a cumulative twenty minute rain shower on the 16th, which may or may not be relevant, we found bunches of tiny holes throughout much of the area. These appear to be vent holes - but they may also have been made by insects. The disturbance of one of these holes did not reveal a nest or insects underneath, and no insects were present around the holes at the time they were observed. These holes were differently sized, similar-looking around their rim and appeared randomly patterned - you can even see some scattered along the eroded edge of the sand below. The holes were also present in the mud areas. A section of the top photo is enlarged below it to show the details of two of the holes..
[07-17-08]
[07-17-08]
Then we more closely examined white corrosive-seeming stuff. It is light and powdery. If this is a seep caused by drilling and/or fracing. What if that white corrosive-looking substance is one of the chemicals used to increase productivity in fracing operations? Given the COGCC's lack of interest, we will probably never know. However, I have "officially" asked them to look into it in a letter copied below. It is pretty frustrating. We are not scientists and so do not know what to ask for, but there is little to no proactive initiative on the part of the COGCC, and they seem to want to put us in a position of having to raise specific questions relative to the specific scientific cause-effect involved in order to encourage them to any kind of response.
[07-17-08]
We've seen what this stuff does to sandstone - here, it has decimated a piece of dead plant matter near the black seep area. Is this what made my foot burn when it came into brief contact with the soil? [07-17-08]
This appears to be an area where the seep has exited
behind this boulder and a significant amount of deterioration has occurred
as a result. Perhaps the white stuff is less a causal substance and more the
residue of a chemical reaction (hence our concern about fracing chemicals).
[07-17-08]
View more photos of the white stuff here.
You know, any reasonable person reserves a little doubt in their own mind about what they have seen or may be seeing. That's why I went back and hovered over the seep and filmed it for three minutes. That' why I continue to look for more clues, strive to determine consistency, detect a pattern and reconfirm everything again.... and again.... and again.
I was giving the COGCC credit that okay, maybe this is all okay - maybe, just maybe all of this is benign - even if it is a new seep. But the more we look at all of this, and think about all of this, the more I worry about not only what we can detect, but what is left undetected. I mean these are all visual clues that we ourselves can discern. Or that we can smell. That doesn't tell us a lot, though. Only that it isn't normal within this environment. But it doesn't tell us what is going on , what else may be going on - what other compounds of this event are present or may pose potentially detrimental effects.
Really, we probably shouldn't be nosing around down here, but there is no interest from the COGCC to put on their gear and really check things out - like any qualified investigator would do - particularly in light of events from 2004 and renewed drilling - which no one is sure is safe.
So here we are, in our flip flops with the dogs, taking pictures taking video and poking at things with sticks to see what we can see. Cripes. But this is our home, and if we don't know what may be present, then we wouldn't take any precaution. I don't know what the heck this white stuff is, but without really getting face to face with it and grubbing around finding more clues, we wouldn't have known the extent of it - and still probably don't.
If we're a little nervy about all of this, the COGCC has itself to thank. The way the seep investigation was handled in 2004 was a farce even by lay standards. Had it been seriously investigated with an eye toward comprehensive impacts, the Arbaney incident would have been a factor and it would not have taken so long to institute a soil gas survey, residents would have been questioned, more air quality samples would have been collected, the aquatic study would have been completed, I could go on and on. Instead, the COGCC tightly controlled the scope of inquiry, keeping other agencies at arm's length through memoranda of agreement.
Maybe my expectation are just too high, but how come we can see this stuff and the very people who should be paying attention can't.... or won't.
We used to enjoy carefree family picnics in Summerhawk, so did our neighbors. But not anymore. And it feels like so much has been taken away and continues to be taken away. No one from EnCana lives here - no one from the COGCC lives here. This is no loss to them - this produces no emotional distress for them. This is not their family or their home. And their lack of real, human, personal investment in what we've devoted our lifetimes to care for is painfully obvious.
This little leopard frog hopped onto a rock adjacent to the westerly ponded area where DOW photographed the dead crawdad. It held perfectly still and allowed me to photograph it from all sides for probably four minutes before hopping into the creek. Do I think it brought me a message? Yes. But I was so delighted to see it and so intent on photographing it while it waited patiently, that my receiver was shrouded by too many selfish emotions. I continue to revisit that moment, disregard my flurry of delight while attempting to see beyond that curtain. Time and distance do not mar the spiritual connectivity of such messages, but I have to identify what all shrouded it and peel that away in order to get to the essence of it. This poor frog waited and waited and tried to speak to me, all the while probably perceiving me as quite the flibberty gibbit. [07-17-08] Heaven knows how you perceive me!