If you aren't pissed-off enough already with the slow-motion disaster in the Gulf, watching this news report might make you let out a few more expletives. The video is genuine but still unbelievable.
Via WKRG in Mobile, Alabama-Pensacola, Florida.
News Five collected samples of water and sand from Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, Katrina Key and Dauphin Island. To our eyes, the samples appeared normal, until we took them to a local lab to be tested.
Water and sand along Alabama's coast should contain no more than five parts per million of oil or petroleum, according to Bob Naman, an analytical chemist. But, the samples we collected tested much higher.
From 16 ppm to 221 ppm, our results are concerning. Even more disturbing is what happened to a sample collected from the Dauphin Island Marina near oil containment boom.
Yes, it exploded. Adding a common organic solvent to separate the oil from the water caused the water sample to explode on contact. Whether from poisonous levels of methane or through the over-use of the dispersant Corexit, serious questions should be raised but mostly aren't. Water shouldn't just "explode"*.
And children are still playing and swimming in this toxic soup.
(* Rapid release of gases in a sealed container, or offgassing, created too much pressure for the glass container.)
