News 5 Investigates: Testing The Water

News 5 Investigates: Testing The Water

www.wkrg.com

MOBILE, Alabama - More than a week has passed since Alabama's beaches have seen significant oil, and despite warnings along the Gulf Coast, some swimmers are taking their chances.

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.

Fro

(visit the link for the full news article)



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[edit on 7/18/2010 by semperfortis]

First reading this does not do it justice we have the video to the segment as well:

www.youtube.com...

Look at the children playing in the very carcinogenic polluted water. People are listening to the politicians, bureaucrats and BP higher ups that everything is ok to come on down and go swim in this water, play in this sand and build sandcastles...

This is unforgivable as those in charge know the sheep will go along with anything they say.

The sobering reality of what is going on at the southern coasts is an intolerable act on a long list of many others.

www.wkrg.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

Mod Edit: Review This Link: Instructions for the Breaking News Forums: Copy The Exact Headline

[edit on 7/18/2010 by semperfortis]

Wow, that is some clip. Good for WKRG for getting their own info.

What scares me is that they only tested for oil on these tests. I am very worried what they are going to find out on their second set.

Thanks for posting this.

reply to post by IbcBen


I watched the video, OMG get those kids out of that water and off those beaches!!!

This is really a crime! They didn't test for CoreExit and I am sure those kids are being exposed to that nasty stuff also.

The political irresponsibility and cover-up is clearly gone to far, people will pay with their heath. S&F this is important news.

This is very distubing video of what is relly going on and i am glad to see that a local news station did a story on this. this kind of evadence needs to be seen by all. i can't even admagine popple swiming in this and let alone the kids playing in it this will cause a lot of popple to get sick and die from the exposer and just admagine the cancer that there will be. but yet the goverment says go on down there and enjoy the beach and go swiming
knowing that they are sending the popple to comite sucide and the parents are doing the same by leting there kids play in it. this is inexcusable period and pissis me of to no end

flag and a star on this post

Link within your link
www.wkrg.com...

Cap is working and they plan to keep it closed woop woop bout time.
94-184 million gallons though have spilled.

After viewing the news clip, which was apparent in proving the waters' tested had more than the allowable amount rate of 5 ppm of oil;

I'm sure the reporter thought "...maybe I should be wearing latex gloves..."

it would be helpful to know what the ppm were prior to the spill, to be able to have a better idea of what is 'normal' for the region.

these numbers do indeed seem quite high, but if there is nothing to compare them to, then there is no reference point.

Just a few days ago the "First Lady" told people to come on down and vacation along the gulf!! What's up with that? Does she not care that people and children especially are going to get sick? She is more worried about "overweight children" than those kids playing with toxicity in the places she told them to visit (implying that they are safe)??? BTW the news report that I am talking about showed a picture of her getting out of a pool down there, not the gulf, but a pool and guess what her swimsuit said - "It's all about me" was printed all over it.

reply to post by justadood

"Water and sand along Alabama's coast should contain no more than five parts per million of oil or petroleum,".
That is considered normal.

I didn't hear an official "allowable" level of oil in the water.

At first, the chemist said "not detectable" would be the norm. Then he guessed, it seemed, at the 5 ppm level.

According to This Link, boats are not allowed to discharge bilge water higher than 15 ppm oil, so what would be expected in the seawater itself is a lot less than that.

I think the 200 ppm or so they got at News 5 is terrible news, especially in the sand.

Kids playing in this water Amazing. I bet the beaches will be vaccant now.

I wonder what the Water here in MS would test like?

Anyone got a lab? I can send ya samples.

Originally posted by xizd1
reply to post by justadood

 

"Water and sand along Alabama's coast should contain no more than five parts per million of oil or petroleum,".
That is considered normal.

That was a quote provided with no background sourcing. The 'chemist' said that is what he figured would be an average level.

I'm not saying he's wrong. Im just saying him saying it is not evidence.

also, their methodology leaves much to be desired.

It's funny, too, because if this sort of methodology was used to 'prove' something that we DONT agree with, you all would be shooting holes in it. But it supports what we all suspect, so it goes basically unquestioned.

that is something worth looking at, IMO.

these tests, while eye-opening, are highly subjective and need to be done by someone with a little more scientific experience than a talking head on a local news station. she makes many, many errors in her sample gathering that render her 'results' highly questionable.

In order for the results to be valuable to the scientific community, she needs to provide some background, some context, and some controls.

Good for them, to be sure, they just need to take it way further.

For example, what would the ppm be if the dug a hole a few feet away from the kid int he hole, and did a test sample there. That would be a way to ensure the ppms werent manipulated by the child who may have been covered in suntan lotion.

same with the test of the water in the marina/harbor. The test needs to be able to differentiate between the 'oil' there due to ships and boats and the like, and possible crude from the BP well.

[edit on 19-7-2010 by justadood]