Amoco recently purchased four homes in the area in order to prevent lawsuits. And while not admitting blame, they also agreed to help cover the costs of the monitoring effort. All the evidence is showing that the water table is dropping, but why and how fast it is dropping we don't know. Malodorous natural gas seeps have already occurred near the newly constructed La Plata County Humane Society, and gasses bubble in the Animas River. He is concerned that if underground fires ignite in that populated area, the resulting sinkholes could damage structures and sulfur dioxide that seeps from the fires could threaten public health.
Sulfur dioxide can corrode lung tissue if inhaled.
Dewatering is not limited to that area, but occurs all along the outcrop. That, in my mind, is a very real threat and it is something that we better get to the bottom of. Baughman said the cause of the Valencia Canyon fires has not yet been determined, though he said the tribe is monitoring the effects of methane production. But I could see the water table dropping naturally, and that could create an environment where coal spontaneously combusts. Currently, monitoring wells are installed at Pine River Ranches that do not single out individual seams, instead boring through every layer, including rock formations.