- Working at KSC
- NASA Old Headquarters building on KSC destroyed.
- Flintknapping points
- Vampires of Kennedy Space Center and the O&C
- Demons of Kennedy Space Center
- Demons of Kennedy Space Center, corpus callosotomy
- Ghosts of Kennedy Space Center, End of Spiders
- Dreams of Kennedy Space Center, lovers and pyramids.
- Witches of Kennedy Space Center
- Cave Bears of Kennedy Space Center
- Aliens of Kennedy Space Center, uninvited guests
- Remembering Kennedy Space Center
- Lake 33 Killing Relic
Hoodwinked
Black water on the O'Day Creek
Kim Ryba's journal of a pipeline leak
- The introduction of Kim's Story:
Hoodwinked: Black water on the O’Day
Let me introduce you to Kim Ryba; she is the most fascinating, stubborn, and caring person I have had the honor to know. Who else has taken on a ten-year fight with one of the largest oil companies in the world?
Kim has operated Stonebridge Stables in St. Charles County, Missouri, for over fifty years, rescued starving horses, tangled with local politicians, and served as head wrangler, providing horses and wagons for movie productions through her former business, Wagonmaster, one of the largest antique and buggy operations in North America.
I work at Kennedy Space Center alongside some of the most extraordinary people in the world, and yet Kim Ryba manages to outshine them all, often by her refusal to quit.
But I would like to share her other story. Her journal of a ten year fight with Conoco Pipeline Corporation and the government agencies that protected the company. Kim’s refusal to give in led to a change in reporting regulations across the nation.
Ten years of black water on the O'Day Branch Creek.
On the night of August 22nd, 1994, a buried pipeline just upstream from Stonebridge began leaking.
The following day, the local fire department, responding to complaints of an intense chemical odor, stopped to speak with Kim, only to have their windshields and glasses coated in a fine petroleum mist.
The oil company, in the process of calibrating their leak alarm equipment, lost approximately 68,000 gallons of aviation fuel, killing everything in the O’Day Branch Creek and well into August A. Busch Wildlife Area.
The oil company reported 966 gallons spilled. A number below the federal threshold that would have required a serious investigation, and the oil company tailored their remediation efforts based upon their reported spill amount, collecting nearly all 966 gallons of petroleum product. The local EPA accepted that number. The EPA Region Seven and the EPA Inspector General accepted the number. MoDNR and the Governor of Missouri's office accepted that number. Agencies that exist only to protect the environment lined up behind the oil company's lie.
One woman resisted the number.
My name is Bruce Ryba. Kim is my mother. This is her journal, her story.
“I didn't plan on a ten year fight, but I was hoodwinked at every twist and turn.” -Kim Ryba
Chapter One. August 22nd 1994. The pipeline begins leaking.
Her journal will be on Amazon by November 2026
Return Home from Hoodwinked, black water on the ODay
"Surviving Kennedy Space Center"
on Amazon.
Peek behind the curtains of the Shuttle and Artemis programs.
(Third to newest) My newest book, available on Amazon
(paperback and e-book)
For pet lovers around the globe, "It's a Matter of Luck" is a collection of heart warming stories of horse rescues from the slaughterhouse.
Available on Amazon
It's a Matter of Luck: Inspirational, Heartfelt Stories of Horses Given a Second Chance.
by Kim Ryba & Lina T. Lindgren
Warning: This book may cause your eyes to water in a good way. (speaking from experience after reading it)
Please give Kim and Lina a heartfelt review on Amazon!
Author Bruce Ryba at Kennedy Space Center Launch Pad 39B & Artemis 1. "We are going to the Moon!"
Author's discussion (that's me) on You Tube of a book review on Amazon
For the video versions of information, please check out my YouTube Channel (Turkeys, Flintknapping, dive stories etc.)
My fictional series/stories on Florida history:
Freedoms Quest (book one)
Struggle for the northern frontier and other lost tales of old Florida.
Available on Amazon
Book Two: End of Empire Available on Amazon!