Bella Vista stump dump fire (Hope: for sale, lease, home)

[biscuitmom]

Originally Posted by nmnita

rising or not, our governor is doing all he can to help solve the problem. Hopefully the problem will be solved before spring arrives. It is a real nightmare. To add, we have a stump dump on the west side as well

It's unlikely that a $20+ million fix will be done before spring. Especially when there's only $8 million in the till.

[duke944]

Why don't they just use a couple tankers to pump nearby lake water into the stump dump till it's out? I really don't understand why they feel the need to excavate. I feel like we are getting the runaround because they don't want to do anything about it, this estimate is simply ridiculous for the size area we are talking about.

[biscuitmom]

Originally Posted by duke944

Why don't they just use a couple tankers to pump nearby lake water into the stump dump till it's out? I really don't understand why they feel the need to excavate. I feel like we are getting the runaround because they don't want to do anything about it, this estimate is simply ridiculous for the size area we are talking about.

I live in Fayetteville so don't have a dog in this fight but there's a massive amount of data on the issue that says this is not that easy a fix.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by duke944

Why don't they just use a couple tankers to pump nearby lake water into the stump dump till it's out? I really don't understand why they feel the need to excavate. I feel like we are getting the runaround because they don't want to do anything about it, this estimate is simply ridiculous for the size area we are talking about.

I think there is concern that if they do that, then there is a danger of contamination of the local water supply. While the newer homes are generally on city water, many older homes have wells. This fire is consuming hazardous materials, which is why air quality is being monitored so closely. And the trench they are building is to hopefully stop the fire from spreading. Bella Vista is largely wooded with deciduous trees, so if a fire spread right now, it could be devastating.

[nmnita]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

I think there is concern that if they do that, then there is a danger of contamination of the local water supply. While the newer homes are generally on city water, many older homes have wells. This fire is consuming hazardous materials, which is why air quality is being monitored so closely. And the trench they are building is to hopefully stop the fire from spreading. Bella Vista is largely wooded with deciduous trees, so if a fire spread right now, it could be devastating.

yes, and this is becoming an worse problem all the time. We have several friends on the east side. I guess yesterday was exceptionally bad or maybe they are just more aware of it since all the attention is being paid to the problem. All anyone here can wish for, is say a prayer for those on the east side. I am sure, this will all be in the past one of these days.

[duke944]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

I think there is concern that if they do that, then there is a danger of contamination of the local water supply. While the newer homes are generally on city water, many older homes have wells. This fire is consuming hazardous materials, which is why air quality is being monitored so closely. And the trench they are building is to hopefully stop the fire from spreading. Bella Vista is largely wooded with deciduous trees, so if a fire spread right now, it could be devastating.

I live a mile from the fire and I'm not aware of any homes on well water around here. I could be wrong I guess, but I'm pretty sure everyone is on city water - in fact in the area of this fire many homes are now on sewer as well. I don't know how much water it would take but it's only a few acres and up to 60 foot deep. It seems to me pumping water until it's out would be cheap and effective, and beat the hell out of standing around with their thumbs up their asses wondering what to do like they have for 8 months.

[DC at the Ridge]

Most of Bella Vista is on city water. But contamination of the groundwater would be a very bad thing. The many lakes in the area as well as the creeks don't need hazardous matter to be leaked into them. While the costs of putting out this fire seem scandalously high, I think doing it right, and not creating an ever bigger mess, is the smart thing to do.

[duke944]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

Most of Bella Vista is on city water. But contamination of the groundwater would be a very bad thing. The many lakes in the area as well as the creeks don't need hazardous matter to be leaked into them. While the costs of putting out this fire seem scandalously high, I think doing it right, and not creating an ever bigger mess, is the smart thing to do.

Take a look at the map, it's right across from Blue Mountain Storage. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bl...9!4d-94.209084 The nearest lake is Lake Britney a half mile away. I really doubt the amount of water necessary to put this fire out is enough to contaminate the ground water to dangerous levels, and they could mitigate it by sucking out excess back into the tanks and getting rid of that safely somewhere else. Just continuing to let it burn all these months isn't doing any of the people or animals who breath it any good - at some point they have to take action. Excavation does not seem to me a realistic plan, how the hell is heavy equipment supposed to drag all this burning matter out of a 60 foot deep hole several acres in size? I'm doubting they are serious about stopping this fire, they are picking their noses and talking stupid wildly expensive plans that wouldn't work anyway. 8 months ago when the fire dept was called it would have been much easier to stop than now. It took a lawsuit and enough people complaining for them to even recognize the problem and make some public statements. F'g pathetic, and the stupid POA who created this mess in the first place hasn't taken any responsibility whatsoever for it.

[DC at the Ridge]

Originally Posted by duke944

Take a look at the map, it's right across from Blue Mountain Storage. https://www.google.com/maps/place/Bl...9!4d-94.209084 The nearest lake is Lake Britney a half mile away. I really doubt the amount of water necessary to put this fire out is enough to contaminate the ground water to dangerous levels, and just letting it burn all these months isn't doing any of the people or animals who breath it any good - at some point they have to take action. Excavation does not seem to me a realistic plan, how the hell is heavy equipment supposed to drag all this burning matter out of a 60 foot deep hole several acres in size?

I agree with you that just letting it burn is not an option. And I appreciate your doubt about groundwater contamination. But I think better safe than sorry. The hazardous materials that are currently burning, have to be considered. This is a very bad situation, and as you live so close by, and have endured this disaster for so long, I can certainly appreciate you want action, not expensive studies that don't achieve anything. I just think that the long-term as well as the short-term have to be considered.

[duke944]

Originally Posted by DC at the Ridge

I agree with you that just letting it burn is not an option. And I appreciate your doubt about groundwater contamination. But I think better safe than sorry. The hazardous materials that are currently burning, have to be considered. This is a very bad situation, and as you live so close by, and have endured this disaster for so long, I can certainly appreciate you want action, not expensive studies that don't achieve anything. I just think that the long-term as well as the short-term have to be considered.

This isn't rocket science, get a couple tankers fill them with water and start pumping. If they had done that 8 months ago when the fire dept was first called and the fire was much smaller this would have been a non event ffs, but better late than never. Or, we can continue to watch people pick their noses and tell us how impossible this problem is to solve until it burns itself out.