Visit to the Wendigo Creek

I met with David McAlpine at his house on Wendigo Way. Dave wanted to test some leachate we had found earlier this month. The residents of the area are concerned with migrating pollution from an old gas station that was on the corner, above their property. The property is being looked at for redevelopment and the local residents are concerned about the effects of doing this.

We returned to the area along the creek where Mark, David and I had spotted orange leachate coming out of the sides of the bank of the creek and spilling into it about a month earlier. The leachate leaves a very visible sheen on the water, a lot like gasoline would do if in a puddle.

I took three sample jars of the leachate for laboratory testing. It was obvious to me that this leachate was not the result of a natural occurrence, as it not only had a very unnatural color to it but it also had a strong distinct smell to it (very similar to the smell of the leachate found at King's Mill Park).

David had a very well graphed out analysis of the landscape which showed that the water flow for that area would travel from the location of the old gas station to the area where we discovered the leachate.

I dated and labeled the samples, sealed them, and placed them into a cooler for transport to the laboratory in Burlington. David accompanied me to the lab and on route he explained that if he could show that the leachate was coming from the old gas station that his community would have a chance of getting it cleaned up and could prevent further damage to the area by bringing this concern to the people who are planning to construct condo's on the old gas station site.

-- Eric Mattson