Deteriorting vegetation causes concern for stream

A reddish substance in Edgewood Creek near Kingsbury Grade has environmental officials interested and some residents concerned.

The substance in the creek, which runs through Blaine and Joni Wines' middle-Kingsbury property, may be the cause of deteriorating vegetation.

"It looks like the pollen does, except it's red, real dusty," Joni Wines said. "When the (creek) dries up in the summer it leaves a red dust everywhere."

Wines said many trees in her yard have died recently and the strange substance in the creek could be to blame.

"All the trees are dying," she said. "That's why we're so concerned. We've had to cut down a lot and we have some trees that are probably 150 years old that are dying."

The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection is investigating the area to identify the cause of stress on vegetation.

Environmental officials took samples of surface water in the Kingsbury area and tested it for water chemistry, volatile organics, heavy metals and bacterial content.

Allen Biaggi, administrator of the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, said volatile organics, such as petroleum products and solvents, have been ruled out, and the bacterial levels in the water are normal.

"Some results have already come in," he said. "There weren't any organics in that water and the bacterial levels were fine. We also noticed there was some very good life in the water there, which would suggest the water quality is quite good."

A similar investigation was conducted many years ago in the Kingsbury area, but the source of the problem never was identified.

"Many years ago there way some concern about some of the trees dying in that area," Biaggi said. "Some water samples were taken. Some evaluations were done and I believe a shallow water well was installed in the area. At that time, all of the water samples came back just fine and it never could be determined what the problem was. There just wasn't a resolution to it at that time."

The previous investigation's lack of answers troubles Wines.

"My concern is they have looked at this before in the past and couldn't figure it out," she said. "But they seem to be really interested about it and they've been very nice. I just hope they have a sophisticated means of finding out what it is."

Biaggi said it is possible the red substance is harmless and the trees may be dying for other reasons.

"We also are taking a look at some of the land uses in the area and trying to identify other sources that could cause this," he said. "We're not in the mode of pointing any fingers. We're just trying to figure out what's going on up there."

An old dump site located about 500 feet from Wines' home may be one of those other sources, according to Wines.

"The county dump for Tahoe used to be up here," she said. "It was closed many years ago and I don't think they had regulations at that time and it could be it was closed without being properly cleaned up. There's something going on and that seems to be a logical thing to suspect."

Biaggi said he expects the rest of the test results back in the next week or two and the investigation will continue at that time.