Resource Activity on Public Land

[Trismegistus]

Kim - I agree with you. There is a window there when slash left lying is going to increase the risk of fire -- no doubt. And is some localities -- especially in the drier climates found in southern California slash left lying on the forest floor may contribute to a higher risk of fire for many years. Moreover even here in Arkansas I think the slash should be placed into discreet piles some distance from any trees or thickets so if it were to catch fire it wouldn't reach into the tree tops.

And we're certainly all in agreement that we need far more on-the-ground inspectors and funding for the ADEQ in light of the Fayetteville Shale exploits.

Slight Tangent: Hell's Half Acre on Indian Mountain near Hot Springs...old photos taken 100 years ago reveal little change -- whereas most of the mountain that was once covered in scrub oak and rock now supports a relatively thriving forest, this site is still all rock. Even the quarries at Bauxite are recovering faster than this natural entity -- maybe it needs more wood chips :). I yet to have anyone offer me a sound geological reason why this place even exists. Anyone know?

[KimL]

Grant, they had no plans to do anything at all until we tracked them down--and they had done a background search on me before I heard from the environmental person and before he came out to visit the site. Then they started emergency remediation, but everything they did got washed away on the first try. Several days later when the ADEQ inspector got there, he found multiple violations, including a chipper stuck in the creek.

What should ADEQ do in monitoring? 1. Enforce existing state and federal laws. I'd also hope we could strengthen laws, so that companies do not do, as they did here, in terms of picking any route, regardless of impact, as long as they could get permission cheaply. Here, I'm talking about connections from wells to main lines.

Tris, I have no idea about the place you mention. How/when was it cleared?

[grant]

Kim (and anyone else)- i am ignorant of any State or Federal rules that state how a site should be restored after work is done. The BMP article mentions that re-seeding, mulch, straw bales and gravel in creek/road crossings are used for erosion control. That is what i have seen in the NF.

i don't think we can expect more from the gas industry than is done by the experts at the FS.

[Trismegistus]

Kim I stumbled upon the place doing research for Gillen's White Sulphur Springs. Here's a link to Hell's Half Acre -- the picture was taken during the early 1900s but it looked about the same in the early 1800s based upon early records and looks about the same today. It's fairly close to the top of the ridge line and the slope isn't all that steep -- you'd think that over the past couple hundred years it'd give way to more vegetation. Most of the rock covered balds and glades of old are all but gone -- but not here. Strange place. But then again there be a number of strange places nearby -- Potash Sulfur Springs, Magnet Cove, Spanish Diggings, etc.

[Roger]

Grant, what I've seen of pipelines in my past oil bidness experience is that they will try to get something to grow on the ROW. If that is the case, erosion should not be an issue in the future. The property is sloped some. Right now, any heavy summer rains will push a lot of silt down into the creek. And there maybe a spring in the area where they are working.

A lot of their problem is that they were crossing a bunch of highway ditches and were not taking any simple precaution of placing the bales in the ditches (as we see all the time). And they are laying lines all in this area and we can see the route of the pipeline.

Somewhere they will cross the Little REd River in order to connect to the main line running from Conway County over to Mississippi where it will hit the big line to the NOrtheast.

My $.02 worth, discounted to $.01111!

[KimL]

Thanks, John. I'll look--probably early next week. Need to get an article out first and then am tied up for weekend. :)

Grant, they weren't following BMPs here, at least not until they discovered someone was watching. I risked the ticks today to hike out to the edge of our property and found that out of sight, they went back to what they'd been doing before--almost nothing. They've completely destroyed a little feeder creek that watered a place we call the Grotto. It's like they don't even know it's there. And to start with, they were operating in an area that should have required Corps approval--greater than a ten of an acre of wetland. Yep, that's where they got the chipper stuck and where the alleged spring is (see Roger's post). And since ADEQ's map showed a different route, ADEQ was not aware of the fed violations. We're getting passed up the line at ADEQ . . . outcome yet to be determined. With regard to the FS, Grant, are you thinking of that recently founded organization of concerned scientists within the FS?

[KimL]

Anybody else catch that Chesapeake will be leasing its mineral rights to China? Oh, yes, Chesapeake will help the US energy crisis so much.

[KimL]

Given our continuing issues with the pipeline construction near our property, I thought some folks here might be interested in hearing the latest news from ADEQ. ADEQ is not checking maps for accuracy. ADEQ is not following through to make sure Corps permits are in place. They are basically saying, okay, thanks for telling us you are putting a pipeline somewhere out there in that county and that you'll cross streams. Staff members are sort of responding to complaints from citizens, albeit they have so much on their plates that it may be some time before anyone can get out. Once investigators leave, Chesapeake is going right back to what it was doing before (at least here)--e.g. today, five pickups were parked in the stream where Chesapeake had the chipper stuck the day the investigator was out in July. I'll be happy to provide documentation to anyone who identifies themselves to me via p.m. Given that it may be a Chinese company and not Chesapeake drilling in these wildlife areas, my concerns are even greater, and I'll bet some of you agree. I think ADEQ will need all the help it can get from people who like to spend time outside.

Someone also asked how I knew Chesapeake had run some kind of search on me before the environmental guy called me back. Feel free to PM me about that too. It's a quick, simple answer.