This story was originally published by Reveal and appears here as part of the Climate Desk collaboration. From the cockpit of a Cessna airplane, Gary Mowad, a special agent for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, spotted what looked like a dried-out pond in rural eastern Colorado. The banks of the pond were black, so he suspected it was actually a pit for oil company waste. When he drove out to inspect the half-acre pond, he found something far worse.