Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Gurdon Pond No. 2 passes inspection

The proposed site for Gurdon Pond Number Two, by the railroad track down from South Front Street, was surveyed for potential environmental pollutants by a Little Rock environmental scientist on Wednesday morning with favorable results.

Nathan J. Siria, an environmental scientist with FTN Associates out of Little Rock, started about 10:30 a.m., hiking around the pond and looking for any signs of industrial waste or potential environmental pollutants.

"With this site, since there really are no abandoned buildings etc., or signs of industrial waste, we were looking for dump sites," Siria said. "We checked for 55 gallon drums that someone might have wanted rid of, or for a plant upstream that might contaminate this pond if it were filled back up."

Siria said he did not find any of the potential polluters.

"Tommy Potter showed me around," he said. "I got on a four-wheeler, went hiking and generally looked at as much of the potential pond area as possible."

Siria said he found a few railroad ties, an old couch, a little trash  but nothing contaminating.

"Tommy and I also talked about preventive maintenance," he said. "The biggest risk to filling up the pond is the railroad being so close. Hazardous tanks could potentially spill into the lake, but there is no evidence that they have in the past."

Siria said he collected photographs of the site, and recorded maps for his required hazardous potential survey data.

"From what I saw, there is no reason not to put the water back in the pond," he said.

"We'll do a paper chase for any possible railroad spills."

Potter said there have been three derailments near the site in the past 10 years, but no broken vessels.

Mayor Clayton Franklin said the environmental survey would cost Gurdon around $2,000, which would be taken out of $35,000 in monies acquired for the city by Representative Tommy Roebuck during the last session of the state legislature.

"We have to have an official opinion about the potential for hazardous materials contaminating the pond before we can sell the idea of recreating it in Washington, D.C.," Franklin said. "Of course, Congressman Mike Ross will bring it up there."

The budget to recreate what is also known as Timber Lake remains at $314,000. Potter said he has hopes that the funding will come through in the next one to two years.

"We realize it has to go through channels," he said. "But having good results on this hazardous waste survey is another mark in our favor. I still believe it will be an excellent secondary water source for Gurdon in the future, with a lot of recreational value as well."

A rumor, confirmed by several older fisherman in the area, says Gurdon Pond Number Two used to be the place to fish for "keeper bass."

The pond was filled the first time from 1936 until 1990, Potter said.

The survey for hazardous waste materials, or the potential there of, will satisfy the federal government's requirement for the pond project to have an updated environmental impact study, according to Siria.