Part 6 Oil Pollution 14 Weeks Later
During lockdown in 2020 I repaired the gully which is used as a storm drain from the roads nearby. Spending hours every day I cemented onto its base the old bricks and rocks which the water had eroded from its sides. I searched the garden for the same, having never thrown anything out over many years.
Gradually, day by day, I built it up. Being close to the then clean, running water, watching how it wanted to flow gave me a source of grounding. I was amongst the tree roots, studying how the plants stabilised the sides and how they readily took advantage of the moisture.
After building up the floor of the drain and sides reaching up to a metre, I then ordered two tons of granite from a local quarry to stabilise the upper parts, some as high as two metres. I spent a lot of time simply studying how the water behaved to create features for wildlife, as well as drainage.
My therapy was to work ‘with nature’, with water, and to expect to repair and clean out the gully often, in the future. My mantra was, ‘Water gives life, we need it, work with it’.
My happiness in achieving my aim turned into a nightmare when, instead of storm water, on the 23rd March 2021, a black treacle mess took all my work as a fantasy saying, ‘Hey Mate, this is 2021, what do you expect?’
My thoughts every time I see or smell this oil, in my organic garden, always turn to the peoples of the Niger Delta where nearly 5000 massive oil spills in the last six years have created bogs and swamps around and in which, people live. And wildlife?