r/woahthatsinteresting • u/CurrentGlassPainter • 22d ago

Farmer drives two trucks loaded with dirt into levee breach to prevent orchard from being flooded

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11.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

Even if somehow all of it did leak out, there is not enough gas and oil in those two trucks to cause any issues. It would dissipate in the flood water over a very large area, the gasoline would evaporate, and residual oil would be filtered through the soil and eventually broken down by bacteria as the water is absorbed. Normal healthy soil is REALLY good at filtering low concentration contaminates like that.

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u/Write2Be 21d ago

Yeah, I guess it's a matter of volume, but I still find myself thinking he could have used the same pickup to haul a good load of bricks, for example, and drop them there to do the job in a more environmentally sound way and at a lesser cost. To do that, though, he probably would have needed to anticipate the flooding and have the supplies at hand.

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u/Good-guy13 21d ago

This happened very close to where I live, time was of the essence and millions of dollars hung in the balance. No one is going to spend the time to go pick up a load of bricks and fill up the truck then unload them an hope it works. They had to act quickly. Not to mention it’s a moot point because these are flood waters that had already covered around 93,000 acres including, houses, tractors, machinery, pesticides and all other kinds of pollutants. A couple more trucks don’t make a bit of difference.

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u/RedOtta019 21d ago

Yeah this farmer was a smart guy. He excavated the trucks anyway 🤷‍♂️

Reddit is so many know it all 🤓’s

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u/Good-guy13 21d ago

https://preview.redd.it/elepbmlwld5e1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a8544b075c19d731f8f19c7147965e20d387a802

Lake Tulare 2023 same flood as in OPs post. An inland sea with water for miles in any direction

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u/RedOtta019 21d ago

This didn’t occur by lake tulare and was much further north