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Oil Seeping from Ground in Parent's Back Yard
Self | 03/21/05 | Laurel Barney

Posted on 03/19/2005 4:50:11 PM PST by The Grim Freeper

Today, my mother asked me to come see something in their Los Gatos back yard. She took me out to the corner of their large lot (large for Los Gatos, anyway), and she pointed out to me some black, shiny substance seeping out of the ground in patches, and along a line about 10 feet in length. The last heavy rain had made this substance come to the surface.

I said "It looks like oil," and she said she thought so, too. I stuck my finger in it, and it was black, slick, and after I'd rubbed it around to almost a drying point, a little bit gunky. Like crude oil.

We know my parent's property sits on a water table, because the last big earthquake, they weren't anxious to sit in the house, so they sat on the ground, and the ground was all wet (even though it hadn't rained in months).

Also, the heavy rains have caused a number of cracks to appear and/or widen in the brick work and driveway and porches and patios of my parents older home. We definitely are expecting a "big one." We just don't know when, of course. We weathered the Loma Prieta earthquake with a minimum of property damage and some major "rattled" nerves.

But all that is to say, has anyone here ever heard of such a thing? Could crude oil be seeping to the ground surface due to the heavy rains? Could it be something else? If it's oil, what do we do? Do we report it?


TOPICS: Your Opinion/Questions
KEYWORDS: blackgold; environment; faultline; ground; heavyrain; leonardcrawley; oil; seeping; texastea
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To: The Grim Freeper

Take everything I say below on a tentative level: I am only a law student, and not a very good one at that; please check with a licensed attorney for a better understanding of the issues.

If your parents own the property, then they own everything below ground and (to a certain extent) above ground. If there is in fact a deposit underground, it is theirs (unless the deed makes clear exceptions otherwise, which is doubtful).

I would suggest that you contact an energy law attorney in the area. He would probably have contacts in the energy field that could inspect your parents' land to determine if there is a deposit, and if so, how much. They could then go from there if they decide to form a company to market the oil (I'm sure there would be plenty of drilling companies who could be contracted to pump the oil--it's probably not a large deposit, so it might not even be worth it).

Again, bear in mind that I might be totally wrong. Please contact a real lawyer before taking any real action. Here's hoping you've struck it rich!


21 posted on 03/19/2005 5:00:09 PM PST by Cyclopean Squid (History remembers only what was, not what might have been.)
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To: The Grim Freeper

Black Gold.


22 posted on 03/19/2005 5:01:23 PM PST by Supernatural (All the truth in the world adds up to one big lie! bob dylan)
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To: The Grim Freeper
Come and listen to a story about a man named Jed. A poor mountaineer, barely kept his family fed, Then one day he was shootin at some food, And up through the ground came a bubblin' crude. Oil that is, black gold, Texas tea.

Image Hosted by ImageShack.us

Well the first thing you know ol' Jed's a millionaire, Kinfolk said Jed move away from there-- Said Californy is the place you ought to be, So they loaded up the truck and moved to Beverly. Hills, that is. Although, it is probably septic tank leaching from somewhere, sorry.

23 posted on 03/19/2005 5:01:23 PM PST by CitizenM (An excuse is worse and more terrible than a lie, for an excuse is a lie guarded. Pope John Paul II)
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To: itsamelman

"Granny? That possum stew ready yet?"


24 posted on 03/19/2005 5:01:42 PM PST by B Knotts
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To: The Grim Freeper; SortaBichy; Delmont
It seeped back into the ground, but it is still black in those patches where it had oozed up before--just not glistening.

They just need to draw their blinds at night....sounds like they only had an "excitable prowler" who downloaded on his way out.

25 posted on 03/19/2005 5:01:57 PM PST by ErnBatavia (ErnBatavia, Boxer, Pelosi, Thomas...the ultimate nightmare Menage a Quatro)
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To: The Grim Freeper
Black gold! Texas tea! Drill now!



D'oh! Nevermind, the liberals in Los Gatos aren't going to let you drill. Probly make your place some type of "wildlife preserve".
26 posted on 03/19/2005 5:02:44 PM PST by advance_copy (Stand for life, or nothing at all)
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To: The Grim Freeper



There you are!
27 posted on 03/19/2005 5:02:45 PM PST by dagoofyfoot
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To: Dallas59
Well, the first thing you know ol Grim Freepers a millionaire...

Should we ping JimRob??....maybe we won't have to go through the Freepathon thingie next quarter.

28 posted on 03/19/2005 5:03:48 PM PST by ErnBatavia (ErnBatavia, Boxer, Pelosi, Thomas...the ultimate nightmare Menage a Quatro)
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To: The Grim Freeper

29 posted on 03/19/2005 5:04:34 PM PST by Samurai_Jack (ride out and confront the evil!)
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To: The Grim Freeper
Oil can come to the surface. That was the way it used to be harvested until we figured out how to dig wells.

Might want to make sure there is not a oil pipeline running under the property though. You could have a serious problem rather then a bonanza.

30 posted on 03/19/2005 5:05:50 PM PST by Harmless Teddy Bear ( We're all doomed! Who's flying this thing!? Oh right, that would be me. Back to work.)
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To: The Grim Freeper
Could crude oil be seeping to the ground surface due to the heavy rains?

Certainly, happens all over the planet. OTOH, it could be somebody buried a barrel of oily waste some years back.

31 posted on 03/19/2005 5:06:04 PM PST by RightWhale (Please correct if cosmic balance requires.)
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To: The Grim Freeper; Carry_Okie; forester; sasquatch; B4Ranch; SierraWasp; hedgetrimmer; ...
Carry has some interesting theories on this. If we suck it up commercially from wells, it won't seep to the surface etc.
32 posted on 03/19/2005 5:06:14 PM PST by farmfriend ( Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill?!?)
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To: The Grim Freeper

And the next thing you, ole Jed's a millionaire.


33 posted on 03/19/2005 5:06:33 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Say no to gun-control.)
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To: The Grim Freeper

Check the property discription and see if the mineral rights come with the property. In Texas they do. But I don't know about CA.


34 posted on 03/19/2005 5:07:02 PM PST by marty60
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To: The Grim Freeper
I stuck my finger in it, and it was black, slick

Black gold, Texas tea...

35 posted on 03/19/2005 5:07:22 PM PST by Excuse_My_Bellicosity (Say no to gun-control.)
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To: The Grim Freeper

Cows, in Berkeley? Oil, in Los Gatos?


36 posted on 03/19/2005 5:07:25 PM PST by sourcery (Resistance is futile: We are the Blog)
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To: The Grim Freeper

Better start putting it in barrels now before the enviro-freaks have your parents evicted and property siezed.


37 posted on 03/19/2005 5:08:22 PM PST by TADSLOS (Right Wing Infidel since 1954)
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To: The Grim Freeper

Click here

38 posted on 03/19/2005 5:08:23 PM PST by e_engineer
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To: RightWhale
Check your property deeds.

If you don't own the mineral rights you could wind up with a drilling rig in the back yard.

Suggest you trade the SUV for a diesel....will run on raw oil with some modifications.

39 posted on 03/19/2005 5:09:19 PM PST by spokeshave (Strategery + Schardenfreude = Stratenschardenfreudery)
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To: The Grim Freeper

somebody buried a 1963 mercury there in the back yard..it has been leaking oil all these years, but it just now has let enough out for it to come to the surface.


40 posted on 03/19/2005 5:10:41 PM PST by cajun-jack
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