I have a large white oak tree (75' tall, 3'+ diameter 4' off ground) near the house that began leaking sap last week just above ground on a large root base. The sap is actually foaming where it is leaking out (pic attached) and is pooling, with the pool of sap boiling with some type of maggots or larvae living in it. It was not hit with a lawnmower or damaged in any way that I know, so I do not know if it is possibly insect or disease related. I know that there are several diseases that attack trees that have odd symptoms including sap leakage, some that have almost immediate fatal results. I see no other symptoms in the canopy or leaves; no leaf wilting or spotting, or small branches dying up high. I would like to save the tree if possible, but if it is some disease known to be fatal, would probably like to have it cut down and use for timber while the heartwood is still in reasonably good shape.

Use searchwords slimeflux bacterial wetwood and compare symptoms to what you're seeing.
https://www.asergeev.com/pictu...

Al

Ask why is my oak tree foaming? It could just be a natural occurrence due to a build up of sap in the tree.
https://mast-producing-trees.o...

This explains the foam but not the larvae.
https://www.brandywine.org/con....

Could be combined with slimflux or not. The pooling is weird. Can you take photos from further away showing the whole base of the tree, as well as the trunk and canopy? Does the liquid smell?

Please tell us where you are, what your weather has been and the age and location of the tree.

Maybe borers.

Thanks for the quick replies! Attached as requested are 4 more pictures of the trunk detail and canopy. What looks like a small stick across the pool of sap is actually a live root, presumably from the white oak.
The pool of sap smells about the same as fresh cut oak when cut and split for firewood, that slightly "sour" smell that many of you may be familiar with. You can see in the picture that the sap is strong enough that it killed a liriope plant next to it.
I have a modest home orchard, so have a good selection of fungicides and batericides available to me here, including copper based, if any of you conclude one of those might help. Could also, of course, spray with a diluted bleach solution. I'm very familiar with Cedar Apple rust, Brown Fruit rot, and other orchard diseases, but have never seen this "foaming sap" pooling from a tree root base.
In the larger picture, the tree to the left with a dead branch sticking out to the right is a wild cherry, and behind that is a hickory. The original grove consists of several cherry, hickory, white, red, post, blackjack, and Nuttall oaks, and twenty year old redbuds and Washington hawthorns that I planted. Keeping the Chinese privet beaten back from the property border fence is an ongoing battle. Thanks again!

I would gather up some of the larvae-grub things and take them, with a couple photos, to the nearest Ag Extension service.

I agree, consult a pro. Ag Extension or even a certified arborist. Plus gather a sample of the liquid. I've seen slim flux run down bark but never pool on the ground like that. It's a beautiful oak.

Flies are likely laying eggs (thus, the maggots/larvae) in the wet effluent because they recognize it as a source of sustenance for their offspring.

Slime flux/ bacterial wetwood often originates in wound sites caused by mechanical damage or poor pruning practices higher on the tree, so the effluent flowing downward over the bark's surface commonly evaporates before it reaches the soil; so no opportunity to pool.
Al

Thanks for the good input and advice. I contacted a friend who is a regional non-game biologist who referred my info to a forester friend of his. Looks like it is White Flux Disease (Alcohol Flux). Because of location on root base I am unable to follow the best remedy to drill upward into trunk for drainage, but am following instructions to water the tree by soaking the entire area under tree canopy. Thanks again!