Warm Mineral Springs

Pollution, Debris and Damage

Plastic Sheeting

• Dozens of square meters of 5 or 6 mil plastic sheeting – Covers very large sections of the 20 meter shelf– In deeper water where it has fallen from the shelf– Sheets are extremely large and will be very hazardous to

remove– Plastic shows clear signs of leaching chemicals into the

water column.• Sheets are held in place by

– Sand that is not native to the environment– PVC Pipes – Other weighted debris

Plastic Sheeting

Plastic

Plastic

PVC Pipe

Huge Plastic Sheet

PVC

Plastic Sand Bags

Plastic

Entire frame is of one large plastic sheet

Barrel – contents unknown

Sand Fall

Plastic Edges

Aspect looking down slope

Metric Tons of Sand

• Reports are that 4 dump truck loads of sand were deposited in the spring 3 times per year for over a decade.

• Actual amount of sand is very difficult to measure.– On the top of the natural debris cone an area of

30 meters by about 15 meters of sand has an average depth of 1.1 meters

Sand mound on the lower shelf

Sand Continues to Migrate• Sand falls have created significant erosion • The erosion continues and threatens the

stability of the shelf itself– Loss of the shelf will mean loss of important

archeological data– A large shelf collapse on the north side is likely to

block the out flow of the deep water vent. • Salt water flow could return to its original underground

course

– The south side shelf collapsed some time ago

Sand fall

Note deep erosion

Sand Fall

Mounding sand

Sand Falls

Sand fall

Sand eroding thru plastic sheets

Plastic has broken away in places/migrating to deep water

PVC w/ plastic shreds remaining

Plastic sheet on the verge of falling off the ledge

Barrel - Unknown Contents

Meter stakes left by archeologist in the 80’s show how much sand has mounded

Meter Stake

Sand Fall

Sand Mound

Clean Up• 1st remove the surface debris and other items that

are not imbedded in the sand or bottom sediments• 2nd use hydraulic lifts to evacuate the sand from the

shelf • 3rd Remove the plastic sheets with careful

consideration of the underlying artifacts and strata• 4th use hydraulic lifts to remove the sand mounding

on the debris cone without digging into the underlying peat and sediments