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People forget that Pennsylvania is the birthplace of industrial petroleum extraction. There are abandoned wellheads all over, many of which exist in no records
by sevensor 2y ago
People forget that Pennsylvania is the birthplace of industrial petroleum extraction. There are abandoned wellheads all over, many of which exist in no records anywhere, and which are often in the middle of dense forest that has grown up since they were drilled. PA was also logged extensively for charcoal, timber, and fuel for locomotives. A forester once told me that nearly the entire state burned over during the peak of deforestation at the beginning of the 20th century.
- alamortsubite 2y agohttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_City,_Pennsylvania https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_City,_Pennsylvania
- toomuchtodo 2y agoInteresting problem: how would you locate unmapped abandoned wells for triage and plugging?
- sevensor 2y agoUnfortunately I think they're mostly discovered when there's a fish kill in a nearby stream, or somebody's well water starts smelling funny. Industry in PA has a long history of closing up shop and leaving environmental problems for future generations to trip over. I talked with a plumber who told me a story about the heavy-duty multi-stage treatment system he installed for a house where the well water was basically acid mine drainage. He had to bring the pH up from 4! When he took out the old water heater, it was full of heavy brown sludge, which he had to drain before it was possible to move it.
- toomuchtodo 2y agoThis is very helpful! Would some of the metrics this device can track be attributable to when this pollution occurs? Specifically thinking rapid ph change, and and a deployment of these devices in a sensor fabric across vulnerable bodies of moving water. Perhaps also an opportunity for a distributed network of water sensors on private water wells still in use. https://www.crowdsupply.com/georgetown-scientific-llc/nectar-monitor https://www.crowdsupply.com/georgetown-scientific-llc/nectar...