We are FAmOuS!

Duchesne has officially been put on the map as of last week when oil was dumped into the Strawberry River. I was as shocked as the next person when I turned on my television to watch the news and heard it for myself...especially since the oil was dumped in the river not even 1 block from my house. (If you missed it on the news you can go to ubstandard.com and read all about it).

If you look over on the bank you can see the film from some of the oil

I am not a tree hugger or someone who goes around and pickets about saving the planet (no hate messages if thats your forte'...I'm not pointing fingers and nothing personal was meant, I'm just stating that ITS NOT MY THING) but I do care about the environment. I do my part to take care of it and I try to "Be Green" whenever possible. I care about what is happening in the world as well as our environment...especially when its right out my front door. I have to say, I was a little curious as to what an "oil spill" might look like and I wanted to take a stroll down to the river and take a peak at the sludge and oil mess close up...but the Envirocare Team has it all "red taped" off so I couldn't get down there without causing a scene (no worries, I didn't cause a scene). They have big trucks and people all over cleaning things up and I am sure that the tape was to keep people (like me) out of their way and to prevent any injuries or mishaps. BUT as the day went on, I thought about places that they probably didn't have roped off (yet) and decided to take myself a little walk this evening and gander at the sloppy mess.

check out the big glob in the middle of the river...uhg!

This glob was at least the size of a football and was lodged between the rocks...it stunk pretty bad. 

More sludge between the rocks

It was all over like this...just like someone had thrown big balls of it and it had landed haphazardly in various places

I was surprised a bit because I expected to see TONS of oil lining the sides of the river (like you see on TV from the oil spill down in Florida), but instead I saw globs of oil here and there, between rocks, splattered on rocks and logs, and on the banks of the river. It looks awful and smells even worse. I feel bad that this kind of thing had to happen in our little town. Whether it happened because of someones negligence or because someone intentionally did this, I feel there has to be some consequences given. We all have to pay for our mistakes, as well as for deliberate choices that we make...thats just the way the cookie crumbles. There is an old saying that I like to tell my kids, "If you pick up one end of the stick, you pick up the other end too," with each choice we make there is a consequence that follows.

I hope they are able to catch whomever did this and that they are held responsible for it. The damage that it has caused, and WILL cause, will be long lasting for our little area full of of farmers and small town folk. It will have effects on our wildlife as well as our land.

If you look just below the bridge you can see big garbage bags that they have filled..
full of sludge I am sure. 

I sometimes feel that because we live in a rural area we should be sheltered from problems such as this, but in reality it can happen anywhere...and it does...Duchesne is now proof of that.

*PS...sorry some of the pictures are blurry, my camera was low on battery which causes the pictures to be blurry. I was too lazy to run home and grab some as it was starting to get dark outside and I didn't want to lose my opportunity to take the pics....so you get these!