It is great a second effort was made to locate the source of the long running oil sheens seen the past few years in the river. CSO’s will continue( it’s going to rain today, a big storm) but this effort to contain this oil spill will draw attention. I wonder if this oozing pipe is connected to the old gasification plant on Water St, now a park. Perhaps at the time the survey did not catch this last bit of old pipe that may have run to the River.

UPDATE July 31

On Water St there was a coal gasification plant , in fact the playground where Phillips Exeter has their playground was an open pit of oil. The plant was located across the street in the new park on the hill. That Park was built after a remediation effort by the Town and the  gas company. The left over sludge under the ground at the new  park location was encapsulated. Just think about a giant M&M. They pumped some slurry into the ground  and if all the dirt was removed  you would see a giant M&M. This one has a soft center of coal oil sludge. It is possible that there has been migration , or it’s just an old transport pipe that was over looked. If you consider the Swasey parkway  as a former  dump the efforts made at the time to clean the site for a Park may have been simple.  Clear out the big stuff, add a lot of fill , and level it.

I was reading the Carriage Town  News yesterday . A local Kingston  historian  had an article on the 4th of July bonfires  on the  Plains. Ah! the good old days . I saw more  than a few  car tires on the pile, and of course the  old car that was perched on the top was a stunner.