It might be a broken pipe or it might be the earth bleeding, but in Central Bakersfield ... up through the ground came a bubbling crude. Oil, that is. Texas tea.
Actually, it's much more an annoyance than Black Gold.
On Monday, the county started its investigation into a small patch of gooey black oil seeping onto a baseball field near Sam Lynn Ball Park.
Channel 17's Kevin Charette, who also serves as the president of Northwest Bakersfield Baseball, was called out to the scene.
"Our season will start up again in September, so we are on the off season right now," Charette said. "So that is why I wanted to get the ball rolling to see how we rectify this problem to make sure all the kids are safe out here."
The County Health Department says the oil poses no immediate health risk, but warned children should not play in it.
Next, the county will have surveyors look at the land to see if the seepage is the result of an old pipeline break. County records show no pipelines in the area, but they engineers may have to dig back decades to find older records.
Since the baseball field is close to the Kern River and oil fields, it is possible the leak could be natural.
The county will have to wait for survey results to decide how to clean up the leak before the baseball season starts again this fall.
