Under the Surface (Law of Sandtown Book 2) by M K Farrar

Author:M K Farrar [Farrar, M K]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: detective, series
Publisher: Castle View Press
Published: 2023-11-08T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Sharice Gandy studied the results of the water samples they’d taken.

They had everything they needed on the boat to both take the samples and analyze them. The onboard computers sent results to the cloud database, which meant they didn’t need to worry about printing off reams of paper. The boat essentially was their office and their lab, which was handy since they didn’t actually have one on land, at least not one locally.

It meant when they were done with the Salton Sea for this year, and had to move on to the next body of water that needed their attention, they could simply attach the boat to a trailer and go.

She frowned down at the computer screen at the latest set of results from the water samples they’d taken. “Does this look right to you?”

Mathew stepped closer to get a better view. “In what way?”

“These results. There are spots where there’s a high concentration of sulfuric acid.”

Her colleague shrugged. “The lake has been becoming more acidic for years. We already know that.”

“Yes, but to these levels?” She scrolled down to reveal more numbers. “And do you see how it’s got hotspots? It’s not equal throughout the water samples we took. There’s something else, too. The samples have detected radioactive uranium in far higher numbers than there should be.”

The thing she’d always loved about science was that generally other people’s opinions didn’t matter. Yes, sometimes numbers could be interpreted in different ways, but, for the most part, the results were the results. She liked having definitive answers. It made her feel like she was on solid ground. It was something in life she understood.

“It just has to do with the shrinking of the lake.” Mathew gestured up at the bright-blue sky, the hot sun beaming down on them. “Evaporation around here is a killer. The lake has shrunk eight times more than the amount of shrinkage over the same period for the previous twelve months.”

She pressed her lips together. “Something’s happened to cause the Salton Sea to decrease in size, and I’m wondering if it has to do with the higher levels of sulfuric acid.”

Mathew exhaled a breath. “We’re not here to fix anything. We just take the samples, and process the results, and let all the people on far higher paygrades than us deal with the mess they’re making of the environment.”

Sharice glanced out across the water. Overhead, birds flew in formation, their reflections near perfect on the still surface.

Despite the environmental problems, it was still beautiful here. She’d have loved to have been alive during the Salton Sea’s heyday, when the rich and famous came here and the towns on the shoreline were buzzing and vibrant. Now so much of it had gone to ruin. The abandoned buildings were covered in graffiti, and only the poorest communities lived here.

She wished she had the answers when it came to bringing the Salton Sea back to its former glory, but she didn’t.

All around her, local factories churned their pollutants into the air and applied for yet more mining rights.

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