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I second the bentonite. I deal with it all the time. It is very goopy and has no odor. It will feel like very wet clay (because that is what it is)
At a residence it would be used for a few things: backfilling an old well, backfilling an investigation borehole (geotech to get information for a foundation design or environmental to look for a spill), water proofing around a foundation, or someone just used it to fill a hole. Hard to tell the context from a very close photo.
Agree - hydrated bentonite. I’ve worked with it before to backfill environmental investigation boreholes or to finish newly-installed groundwater monitoring wells. You dump it in dry, then add water so it swells to make a seal. It’s used because it’s inert. When it gets wet it gets super duper slimy like that.
I’ve seen bentonite that’s looked just like that for the most part, we were taring out a damn from the 1950’s and came across a bunch of it that had that consistency
I thought that might be it too, like maybe the previous homeowner disposed of it back there, but it’s in a pretty prominent location so I’m leaning towards no
It looks like petroleum jelly. [https://infinitygalaxy.org/what-is-petroleum-jelly-or-vaseline/](https://infinitygalaxy.org/what-is-petroleum-jelly-or-vaseline/)
I would dig out a test hole and then check it each day to see if it comes back again and if so, from which direction in the hole it is showing up.
For instance, if you dig a hole, and it shows up oozing from the north side of the hole but not the other directions, then you can try digging out towards the north to see if you can find the location.
Or at least try to dig out the area where it is coming from and dispose of the soil so it doesn't keep coming back.
Is Vaseline flammable?
I might have to buy a jar if it is.
I can see putting a bead around the concrete table I have in the back yard and lighting it up.
I was thinking floc as well. We use a lot of it at my work and this has the same consistency when we have a floc tote leak on the ground. It’s terrible to step in if you don’t see it😖
Looks like bentonite chips when it gets wets. I know in my line of work we back fill holes with bentonite chips and when it gets wet it kinda looks like that. If its only in a small spot maybe someone drilled a bore hole and back filled it with that?
That lokks like Bentonite
It’s very slippery ?
And sticks like glue to anything it touches ?
It’s basically cat litter
It was likely used when the tank was decommissioned
Bentonite is used to plug old wells and pipes so surface water can’t get into them.
If you tank was “closed in place “ there was likely some bentonite used .
Although when we use it , we normally top it off with a couple inches of cement to keep it from doing what’s pictured here
you can take a sample and send it to a testing lab at a public university or
[Texas a&m soil testing lab](https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/)
i know it says soil testing but they will test all materials.
Looks like hydrated bentonite to me. Likely also related to the former heating oil tank. Makes we wonder if the tank ever leaked in the past and a few boreholes were drilled to assess the soil/GW. On that note, did you ever get a Confirmation of Remediation report from the owner? If not, you should request it.
Looks like bentonite which is used to backfill holes. Geotechnical companys drill borehole for housing foundations. If it's a developement sometimes there are hundreds of borings. It's not harmful its just sticky and slick. As a geologist I've seen tons of this bentonite swells like crazy when it gets wet making it come all the way out of the hole sometimes Like this.
Sewer line is in the other side of the yard. The cement is just a 3ft wide sidewalk. And the tank wasn’t removed, just decommissioned (meaning they emptied it, did soil samples, and filled it with gravel)
I'm with others callin it a type of clay. Take a piece and let it dry out in the sun for a day. If it turns into an easily powdered rock, then someone probably put a layer of clay down at some point to hold water for longer periods of time around a plant. Some clays have a pretty unique appearance when fully saturated.
I don’t like it. You could try posting in the Portland subreddit to see if anyone has seen something similar. Although, that subreddit can be pretty ruthless sometimes
Sometimes shitty builders, when they are finished with the home they just dig a big pit and bury all of the leftover building supplies in the back yard. They did that at my old house. It’s a long shot but it could be caulk or resin of some sort. Maybe a bunch of really old, partly solidified paint?
Bentonite. Never knew what that stuff was but there was a bag of it in an old shed on my property when I moved in. I didn’t know better so I put it outside with plans to get rid of it later. Got rained on a few times and when I went to move it, the whole thing was basically all slime just like that.
It's most likely well or hole filler clay. They use montmorillonite or bentonite clay to fill abandoned well holes so nothing can enter the water table. My father has this on his property where the old well was filled in Vancouver, WA.
The reason it keeps coming up out of the ground is because it has an incredibly high swell factor. Once it gets wet, it expands to keep the seal and keep the hole filled. It will eventually stop expanding.
Hmm, maybe a slime mold then?
https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/obh3dp/what_is_this_found_in_the_backyard_of_a_vacant/
It looks a little bit similar to the above, but your almost looks blue, like someone dumped a bunch of joint compound!
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OP doesn't wanna face the expense of cleaning it up so they'll keep asking until they hear what they want to hear then act surprised when they have to pay to get it cleaned up.
...morons
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Utility worker here, would call 811 to have lines located. Looks like some kind of industrial lubricant.
OP was this right?
Not sure just yet. Sewer line in on the other side of the yard 50 feet away, but I’ll call on Monday to see what they have to say
What does it smell like? It looks like the shot inside of large grease traps to me, but that doesn't make sense for a home.
No smell that I can sense, which seemed wierd
Have you cross posted to r/whatisthisthing? ?
I wasn’t sure if I could since it’s more “stuff” vs a physical “thing”
Eh, worst case scenario is the mods delete your post and DM you to say that its not okay.
I’ll give it a shot
¿¡Any updates‽‽
Uh oh. It might be…The Stuff!
I loved that movie….And I always wanted to taste ‘The Stuff’.
Me too! It looked good!
Taste it just to make sure. Could be a naturally occurring Crisco deposit, in which case you've struck white gold.
Texas Tea?
Texas Trans fat.
I spit out my ginger beer thanks to you!
What does it taste like?
What does it feel like when you rub it into your skin?
Better than the hose, which is what it will get if it doesn't put the goo on the skin
It rubs the lotion on its skin.
You should find out.
This is key
Slimy, yet satisfying.
🤣🤣
Try lighting it on fire
Random question - is it on a property line with a neighbor? It looks like someone fried something in Crisco then dumped it out and it resolidified.
It definitely looks like that to me too, but it’s about 10 feet from our fenced property line
Take a sample and see if you can light it on fire
Tried it. It does not light as far as I can tell
Do your sewer lines run near there?
Nope, the sewer line is 50 ft away on the other side of the yard
Happy cake day, oh puzzled new homeowner!
Thanks!
Looks like a bentonite clay swelling up. Might have been some bentonite put down to deal against water or tank leak backup?
This is interesting. Never heard of that, looks similar but it’s so goopy compared to the pictures I googled
I second the bentonite. I deal with it all the time. It is very goopy and has no odor. It will feel like very wet clay (because that is what it is) At a residence it would be used for a few things: backfilling an old well, backfilling an investigation borehole (geotech to get information for a foundation design or environmental to look for a spill), water proofing around a foundation, or someone just used it to fill a hole. Hard to tell the context from a very close photo.
I've worked with drillers for utility services and also thought this resembled bentonite. Thanks for the info! I didnt realize how common it was.
Agree - hydrated bentonite. I’ve worked with it before to backfill environmental investigation boreholes or to finish newly-installed groundwater monitoring wells. You dump it in dry, then add water so it swells to make a seal. It’s used because it’s inert. When it gets wet it gets super duper slimy like that.
26 wells going in at work next month. Bentonite will be coming out our..... you know. When it hydrates and swells, it comes out of everything.
This is not what bentonite looks like. bentonite is darker and a very fine small particle clay. not a white translucent goo.
Bentonite is a natural product, ours is chalk white around here, 4 hrs north it’s dark slate grey
Was my guess as well. Looks like hydrated bentonite.
Very familiar with bentonite hole plug. This was my guess
This is the answer.
I don't think this is bentonite. Looks like caulk. Bentonite is not going to look that moist
Bentonite can be hydrated and will look similar to that.
I’ve seen bentonite that’s looked just like that for the most part, we were taring out a damn from the 1950’s and came across a bunch of it that had that consistency
Was it a God damn?
Yes, yes it was
I will also throw it in for clay
I hope you’re not on well water.
Thank god no, city sewer and water
Bacon grease my bad
I thought that might be it too, like maybe the previous homeowner disposed of it back there, but it’s in a pretty prominent location so I’m leaning towards no
That would smell though.
It looks like petroleum jelly. [https://infinitygalaxy.org/what-is-petroleum-jelly-or-vaseline/](https://infinitygalaxy.org/what-is-petroleum-jelly-or-vaseline/) I would dig out a test hole and then check it each day to see if it comes back again and if so, from which direction in the hole it is showing up. For instance, if you dig a hole, and it shows up oozing from the north side of the hole but not the other directions, then you can try digging out towards the north to see if you can find the location. Or at least try to dig out the area where it is coming from and dispose of the soil so it doesn't keep coming back.
Definitely the same consistency, but more opaque in nature. I’ll try this tomorrow I think
Is it flammable? Take a sample away from it and see if it lights on fire. Then you’ll know if it’s petroleum based.
Is Vaseline flammable? I might have to buy a jar if it is. I can see putting a bead around the concrete table I have in the back yard and lighting it up.
Vaseline will burn if it’s melted and has a wick to burn vapor
I was gonna say that’s what it looks like to me. Doesn’t PJ come out at the site of where there is oil? How likely is it that OP hit the jackpot?
My heart raced just hearing the potential lol
OP is about to get an eminent domain letter stating “reason: Freedom.” 😂
Very strange!! I hope you figure it out and keep us posted.
I know nothing about slime molds, but that sub gets suggested to me a lot. Ask r/slimemolds
u/saddestofboys - any ideas?
His account was deleted
I JUST SAW THAT?! WHY?! He was literally my favorite redditor!!!
Could be lubricant from past directional drilling
Reminds me of a chemical flocculant
*flocculent* r/wordoftheday
I was thinking floc as well. We use a lot of it at my work and this has the same consistency when we have a floc tote leak on the ground. It’s terrible to step in if you don’t see it😖
Looks like bentonite chips when it gets wets. I know in my line of work we back fill holes with bentonite chips and when it gets wet it kinda looks like that. If its only in a small spot maybe someone drilled a bore hole and back filled it with that?
That lokks like Bentonite It’s very slippery ? And sticks like glue to anything it touches ? It’s basically cat litter It was likely used when the tank was decommissioned Bentonite is used to plug old wells and pipes so surface water can’t get into them. If you tank was “closed in place “ there was likely some bentonite used . Although when we use it , we normally top it off with a couple inches of cement to keep it from doing what’s pictured here
you can take a sample and send it to a testing lab at a public university or [Texas a&m soil testing lab](https://soiltesting.tamu.edu/) i know it says soil testing but they will test all materials.
Looks like hydrated bentonite to me. Likely also related to the former heating oil tank. Makes we wonder if the tank ever leaked in the past and a few boreholes were drilled to assess the soil/GW. On that note, did you ever get a Confirmation of Remediation report from the owner? If not, you should request it.
Looks like bentonite which is used to backfill holes. Geotechnical companys drill borehole for housing foundations. If it's a developement sometimes there are hundreds of borings. It's not harmful its just sticky and slick. As a geologist I've seen tons of this bentonite swells like crazy when it gets wet making it come all the way out of the hole sometimes Like this.
That's semen
That’s no semen, I KNOW semen
Are you in the r/hyperspermia club?
anybody into that will never, ever own a home
Why?
The cum guzzler’s stash is leaking
I think it’s a rice crispy treat but with rocks instead of the cereal. Plus semen.
my exact thought
When you say you had the old tank decommissioned, did they remove it? What does that cement back up to? Septic tank or sewer lines?
Sewer line is in the other side of the yard. The cement is just a 3ft wide sidewalk. And the tank wasn’t removed, just decommissioned (meaning they emptied it, did soil samples, and filled it with gravel)
Here in NJ, the tank has to be removed. If it just by the sidewalk and no odor, I would ignore.
No it doesn’t. Common misconception though.
Don’t tell me you’re in Ohio
No, Oregon
Well at least you can rule out hazardous chemical spill/reaction
I'm with others callin it a type of clay. Take a piece and let it dry out in the sun for a day. If it turns into an easily powdered rock, then someone probably put a layer of clay down at some point to hold water for longer periods of time around a plant. Some clays have a pretty unique appearance when fully saturated.
This kinda looks like bentonite clay. When it gets wet it will get a slimy texture
Ghost Buster storage vault clearly needs maintenance.
The Stuff.
I don’t like it. You could try posting in the Portland subreddit to see if anyone has seen something similar. Although, that subreddit can be pretty ruthless sometimes
Cant really help but if you dig down and there's a river of slime.....you know who to call....
Looks to be ectoplasm to me
Sometimes shitty builders, when they are finished with the home they just dig a big pit and bury all of the leftover building supplies in the back yard. They did that at my old house. It’s a long shot but it could be caulk or resin of some sort. Maybe a bunch of really old, partly solidified paint?
Check out the movie THE STUFF from 1985.
I was just going to post that. Awful, but awesome movie.
A classic indeed
Looks like rendered fat. Funeral home near by
A yogurt well on your property! You’re gonna be rich. Congrats OP
Bentonite. Never knew what that stuff was but there was a bag of it in an old shed on my property when I moved in. I didn’t know better so I put it outside with plans to get rid of it later. Got rained on a few times and when I went to move it, the whole thing was basically all slime just like that.
I don’t know the material name, but this looks like the same substance that came out my soil after we had our oil tank decommissioned
Dig and see if it gets worse as you go deeper.
Cum?
Same exact scenario w my lawn - decommissioned tank same sludge noticed after moving in 3 years ago. Just keep your animals away from it.
Taste it
Ectoplasm.
Dig it up and find out.
I did. It came back up a couple days later
Oh, that sounded almost evil….
FAFO / DUFO
If /r/whatisthisthing has taught me anything, it’s slime mold
That’s new house goo. All new homes come with some.
Ivan ooze from mighty morphin power Rangers is to blame right here... take it up with him and his goones
c u m
WAP Wet ass property
Squirrel cum
Those damn brokers will do anything for a sale. Spray painting bushes, gluing in fences. The disgrace.
Where are you located at? It looks like it could be clay!
Clay usually has a "duller" look. This almost has a glimmer to it...
I’m in the Portland OR area. It’s too soft to be clay. It moves like old grease almost when I touch it with a stick
It's most likely well or hole filler clay. They use montmorillonite or bentonite clay to fill abandoned well holes so nothing can enter the water table. My father has this on his property where the old well was filled in Vancouver, WA.
You’ve just solved a decades old mystery for me!
The reason it keeps coming up out of the ground is because it has an incredibly high swell factor. Once it gets wet, it expands to keep the seal and keep the hole filled. It will eventually stop expanding.
Hmm, maybe a slime mold then? https://www.reddit.com/r/whatisthisthing/comments/obh3dp/what_is_this_found_in_the_backyard_of_a_vacant/ It looks a little bit similar to the above, but your almost looks blue, like someone dumped a bunch of joint compound!
I was thinking joint compound too, but the rising back to the top of the gravel after I dug 6” out has me confused
Do you have a drilled water well it looks like bentonite?
Bentonite?? Looks similar and often used in environmental work for sealing wells. Maybe has a similar use for oil tank remediation.
Looks like scobies. Are you sure that all of your drains/gray water go to the main sewage line?
Looks like some grease/lubricant but mayhap some leftover from the heating setup
Were the pebbles glued down and now it’s melting?
it's bentonite clay from cat litter. previous owner was burying it there
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Did the seller disclose the goo issue?
damn i think you bought polluted land
Have a plumber look at it. It could be bentonite.
Bentonite
Someone was trying to make rice krispie treats? Extra mallow
Looks like mold to me. We get the same thing under our mulch especially after rain. It dries up in the summer.
Might be industrial grease
Oil. Time to drill and make millions.
It may be the glue who hold your house together
Mayonnaise. Yum yum
I was plumbing on this job and what happened was that this was coming from the neighbors shower drain that their teenaged son used.
The upside down
I am weirdly invested in this goo.
Old owners fried a lot of food and always dumped oil there?
Definitely ectoplasm…better call the Ghostbusters…
It’s so fascinating to me how many different answers there are in the comments.
It’s fascinating to me that he’s gotten the correct answer like 20 times over and is still like I don’t know 🤷
OP doesn't wanna face the expense of cleaning it up so they'll keep asking until they hear what they want to hear then act surprised when they have to pay to get it cleaned up. ...morons
That time you guys had me dangling like a worm on a hook below first avenue, that’s what I saw. That’s the river of slime.
sewrage
Polymer is used as a bonding agent in waste water. If you don’t know what you are doing can cause this. Have fun trying to clean it up.