Monday, May 14, 2012

Pipeline aftermath - Part 1

After months of pipeline work, all the heavy equipment is gone. There's no one left working in the hayfield.  A pipeline is running under a significant part of our property. The field is quiet now. No fires burning, no floodlights throughout the night,  no semis. This is what's left. 

A path where they'd built a temporary road. In the photo there is hay growing on the left, and the bare patches are where the field had been covered. This has not been reseeded. We will lose a significant amount of hay this year. 


There is trash in the field. Including this sign.


This yellow stuff appears to be some type of foam insulation. It's scattered all over the far end of the field. 


Here is the main part of the work area, with a view of where the pipeline ran up the hill. The hill has been reseeded, but the rest of the area has not. 


There is a hollow (holler) just next to the large hill, where a small stream runs. Normally this stream creates its own channel and flows into the creek. Right now, it's flowing all over the bare area, making it a muddy mess down there. 


This is one of patches where they had burned brush. (With Beast included for size reference.)


 The bright orange stuff appears to be a kind of lichen growing among the charred bits of wood. At least, that's what I'm hoping it is.


Finally, here's one thing we're happy about. All that wood stacked at the end of the field. It will make cutting and hauling firewood pretty easy for the next few years. 


(As I finished typing this post, an excavator appeared in the hayfield, funny how that works)

3 comments:

  1. How sad :( Is it worse than you thought it would be? How long term is most of this damage, i.e. will it be better next year? It seems like the biggest problem, at least short term, may be the loss of hay. Poor hungry cattle!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lorraine in WisconsinMay 14, 2012 at 7:29 PM

    Don't let them get away with not cleaning up after themselves, if that was negotiated in your contract with them. Do they think you won't check up on them? I know you will be thoughtful and persistent in getting to a resolution on this, just encourage you to not give up. I think your next blog about this topic should include the name of the company or companies that have been involved, and anyone individually too. You have been very respectful in describing their work, but keep in mind that just because they paid a fair price for the use of your land, it doesn't mean they can fail to perform the fair restitution and finish the job they started. And of course if they do a good job at cleaning up, we all want to know that too.

    ReplyDelete
  3. GO LORRAINE! Can you plant some sort of cover crop? After all, there used to be TWO hay seasons so the field can get two crops going in one season. And the muddy creek water laying on the field, can you re-direct this for the cattle? The orange stuff was all over the place on a friend of mine's farm. If it were me, I'd put some serious KILL THIS STUFF on it and hope for the best instead of letting it go insane with new watered soil to thrive in. But all in all, it doesn't look nearly as bad as some of the others I've seen. You can use the sign later when you build something else - or keep it for when the kids come and play in the creek - put it by their dams ... lol ... Perhaps they can provide you funds to get cover crops in or more hay seed to cover the loss?

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...