More photos of the PXP oil spill

Howdy friends and neighbors of the hills!


The following eyewitness report, photos and captions were provided by a concerned resident of Montebello who wishes to remain anonymous.  The photos were taken on Saturday, April 23, 2011.

This material was forwarded to me by the Save the Montebello Hills Task Force of the Sierra Club/Angeles Chapter.  [All photos used by permission.]

Dear Daisy Mae,

I followed the deep tire tracks of the cleanup trucks into the brush and they
led me to a small pond at the end of a large storm drain.  The pond, which is
above the nearby river, and drains down into it, is surrounded by low hanging
trees and an approximately 7 foot escarpment.  The location is nearly exactly
north of where Lincoln Avenue ends about 150 feet from the road, but it is hard
to tell, as the easiest access is by a series of switchback trails and cleared
brush.  I didn't have anything to put a sample of the black gunk, or anything to
wipe my hands with, so I didn't touch it.

[This] is the longest view possible of the pond filled by the outflow
of the storm drain.  While there are 4 booms across the outflow, only three can
be photographed with a non-fisheye lense.  The water appears to be black because
the pondbottom is black, not the water.  A thin crust of black gunk mixed with
dirt is somewhat visible.

[This] shows the difference between the dry earth, the wet earth, and
the gunky earth.  I stuck my dirty white shoe in the photo so the black stuff
would contrast better.

The other photos are different views of the pond and the sides of the pond.

[This] photo appears to be some kind of pipeline shut off, and I include it
because it is along one of the roads to the pond, and appeared to have been used
in the recent past.

The "NRC Incident Command Center", the NRC vacuum tanker truck, and a County
Public Works pick up truck.

Signed,


Anonymous

Dear Anonymous,

Thank you for sharing this important information with the rest of us folks here in Montebello!  I hope you didn't get too much oil goo on your shoes!

Much obliged,

Daisy Mae