After Hacker Creek

As harvest time comes to the hills, residents grapple with the consequences of diesel-fueled dope

(Oct. 2, 2008) Here, the air above the creek bed hums with the murmur of bees. The tock-tock of dripping liquid sounds like the faint ticking of a clock. This late in the year, the water barely creeps over the rocks but the air is sweet and warm. A small shallow pool between large stones cups two foothill yellow-legged frogs and the larva of a Pacific giant salamander. Startled under a rock by the presence of humans, the small bronze creature later creeps out onto the pool bottom. Opening a feathery fringe of deep purple gills, it filters oxygen from the surrounding still water.

Forty feet further down the nearly dry stream bed, the larva wouldn’t survive. In spite of a massive $200,000 cleanup, Hacker Creek has yet to fully recover from a diesel spill which occurred four months ago at the site of an allegedly illegal indoor marijuana grow.

GALLERY >

Below, where the estimated 600-1,000 gallon leak occurred, a pool of water suffocates under a film of oily diesel. Small dead and dying insects cover the surface. The same is true for most of the scant water nearby. In the hundreds of yards below the spill, hiking the stream bed yields only a few flying insects, a snake, a tiny tree frog and a larger, unhealthy looking frog. Conspicuously absent is the pleasant drone of bees and conspicuously present is the stench of fuel.

Before the spill, community activists were already struggling to address increasing concerns about the environmental damage caused by diesel-powered indoor marijuana grows. Dismaying stories were exchanged. One, originating with Mendocino County Sheriff Tom Allman, described how a grower poured large amounts of waste motor oil from his generator into “a redwood septic system — a system designed to leach into the ground. And this system was only 100 yards from the Eel River.”

Before the activists had time to do more than share their concerns with each other, a trail of white official vehicles wound like smoke up through the hills above Salmon Creek. And, like smoke, the cars were an indication that disaster had struck — a fuel spill had spread diesel, leaving a blackened zone of slowly suffocating biosphere behind.

On May 14, an anonymous caller informed the Department of Fish and Game that he had “observed 20 to 30 pools of red diesel” in Hacker Creek. Though the caller was “unable to go in further due to possible respiratory problems,” he was able to provide the agency with enough information that they were able to find the property by May 16.

Authorities quickly determined the source of the spill was an indoor marijuana grow powered by a diesel generator. Lt. John Wilcox of the California Dept of Fish and Game was among the first responders. He found two diesel tanks — a large, 1,000 gallon storage tank used to fill a smaller one. Whether carelessly or through mechanical malfunction, the larger tank’s fuel drained completely into the other tank. Of course, the lesser container overflowed.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 NEXT PAGE >SHARE

11 Comments

Comment / By Ernie Branscomb / Oct. 2, 2008, 3:52 p.m.

Wow, the NCJ went from yellow journalism, (Pistol Packing People, Heidi Walters) to real journalism in less than one week. Nice work.

Kym Kemp really nailed the need for environmental reform in the article that she wrote on diesel fuel spills. The article was very descriptive of the wide range of people and critters that were effected. Kym made me want to do something more about taking care of this river canyon that I love, even more than before. I can put up with people that don’t see things my way, but I can’t tolerate this kind of destructiveness.

I hope you can get her to do more writing for you. Nice work Kym! Ernie

Comment / By Ben Schill / Oct. 2, 2008, 10:06 p.m.

The buried oil problem is going to haunt us in the future. Kym Kemp has done a fine job on this article.

Comment / By Mike Goldsby / Oct. 3, 2008, 12:22 p.m.

This was a pleasure to read: Well written on an important topic. Thanks

Comment / By Not A Native / Oct. 4, 2008, 6:48 p.m.

I feel very sad for Barbara. She is committed to being non-judgemental and tolerant but her neighbors are abusing her good will and subjecting her to torment. She’s torn. Like a Sunni Iraqi in an Al-Qaeda area, she’s caught up in loyalty to her group, even as they blow up citizens. Her neighbors destroy the environment in the name of independence and freedom but actually for greed.

I have little sympathy for “Max”. Gotta grow pot for his medicine? Guess that justifies all the inner city ghetto drug dealers and pimps who do it to support their families. Thats the same excuse employers of illegal aliens at substandard wages use too, and similarly for politicians who take bribes. Everybody’s got to live, does that justify everyone seeking illegal money?

And tell me, if Max is so disabled and using a walker, who is planting and maintaining those gardens, contacting the customers, and bringing the product to market? There’s a lot of physical work in farming, Max’s role seems to be only the land owner and profit collector. Max is a criminal, plain and simple, whether he wants to admit it to the mirror or not.

If he grew for his own use or sold it at cost, that would be different. As it is, he’s growing only so he can get illegal profits, not as an act of conscience or civil disobience to protest unjust laws.

Comment / By anonymous / Oct. 6, 2008, 7:07 p.m.

Why cant folks just switch over to propane generators……propane is cheaper, and turns to a gas and rises into the air if it leaks……no fouling streams.

Jesus h christ it isn’t rocket science.

Comment / By love godess / Oct. 7, 2008, 12:40 p.m.

Message to not a native. Lets see either the government or max is going to pay the medical bills. Wouldnt you rather see him trying to pay his own way or would you rather have your tax dollars supporting him? At least Max is being cautious about his grow. Also do you really care that much as to how he is able to garden. You obviously waste alot of your time worry about petty things and need to get your own life and keep busy so you are not concerned as to how someone farms their garden. I also do not see a correlation between crack, tweek, or coke dealers to that of a marijuana grow. Those sort of drugs have nothing in common to that of a grow farm as long as precautions are taken place and not harming the environment

Comment / By Not A Native / Oct. 7, 2008, 5:07 p.m.

love godess. Funny isn’t it? You don’t even mention or have any sympathy for the pain Barbara experiences due to marijuana growing in her neighborhood. Would you tell her she should move or suck it up?

Many people have medical bills and needs but don’t take up criminal activities. If Max can’t pay, he’s old enough for medicare and if he’s poor enough he gan get medi-CAL. All of which I’m happy to help support as a social good, as opposed to the underground illicit marijuana trade. Max grows indoor to make the biggest buck and thats a pure profit motive.

You need to get your head out of your a and face up to the harm that he’s doing, and the harm criminality does to children who grow up around it, and the real environmental damage thats caused by it.

Get real, growers don’t take precautions. Reread the article about the “Harsh Reality”. They don’t give a hoot about the environment as long as they can intimidate their neighbors into hushing up. Like Barbara is being forced to. Growers create a climate of fear, secrecy, dishonesty and denial. Just like a dysfunctional family. How can that ever be a good thing for the community?

Comment / By Jeff Muskrat / Oct. 8, 2008, 5:58 p.m.

Nothing beats some good sun-powered outdoor organic ganja, grown with love and not greed.

Comment / By towelly the dread head / Oct. 11, 2008, 10:13 a.m.

i agree with mr muskrat. solar powered is the way to go. ‘max’ needs to get off the purple and go with some sour diesel or cherry AK if he wants some yield, and maybe once thats worked out he can afford to put in a solar powered compact flourescent veg room and quit paying for clones..

make the world a better place , one plant at a time

thanks NCJ for a really decent piece of journalism…

i assume its ok to use noisy polluting diesel generators for large scale construction projects and other asset creating endeavors with marginal benefit to the general public??

just not dope, nope

Comment / By Fancy Nancy / Dec. 25, 2008, 10:23 a.m.

Max talks about prescription drugs being shipped from China compared to diesel dope ,really they are very similar. The diesel does not originate here either. The sun however is local, organic and free! Max also says he is producing an organic product. How could that be if it’s grown under artificial lights that are powered by diesel?

Comment / By humboldtbambee / Jan. 12, 2009, 3:51 p.m.

There has to be a way to do anything without making a mess. In Oakland they have Oaksterdom—classes which help medical marijuana get to patients. We can grow mm without killing critters, causing a spill or burning down a Historic home in Arcata. We are not that stupid.