There is Oil in the Rain in New Orleans! |
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| By: marymccurnin Wednesday June 23, 2010 11:46 am | |
There is oil in the rain in New Orleans today.
These videos were done June 22, 2010. I have no idea if this is a valid concern or just oil on the streets. It looks real to me but I thought it was worth posting.
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153 Comments
Somber news. Thanks Mary
thanks for posting!
Industry spin to follow:
New & Improved Rain!
No more need for wipers – water just slides off now.
…just stick a funnel in your gas tank and voila!
Have you read the following:
Toxic Oil Spill Rains Warned Could Destroy North America
I saw that hope somehow that it is not true. I do fear the worst. When the banksters were being bailed out I keep saying that “Unfettered Capitalism Kills”.
I didn’t realize who true it may become.
Please someone in the scientific community tell us if this oil/rain/dispersant thing is possible.
Since I enjoy doing research, I will give you a few links:
Hurricanes and the Oil Spill – NOAA
Some simple explanations:
Oil Spills – K through 12 science experiments
Oil Spills – Oceanography online textbook
What about the dispersant?
Need to go, hopefully that will provide you with some basic info.
Thanks. or maybe not.
One of your links is to The International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited. I don’t think I would put my trust in any oil industry group right now. And another link was to NOAA who I used to trust and had some contact with over the years but they seemed to be touting the BP line of no plumes in the gulf for awhile.
speakingup, I hope you will consider authoring posts at the seminal.
Based on your links, it appears that the dispersants are a really bad idea. We should be committing the US Navy and all available vessels to a giant Shop Vac operation. Suck up the oil/water and then separate it.
But BP doesn’t want that to happen. Just like not allowing American citizens on beaches and in the wetlands to report on the horror. It is not that they think they own us. They do own us.
King George has gotten his colonies back.
Behavior of Oil at Sea
Fate of Marine Oil Spills
Crazy
Dispersants
Dispersants
The Use of Chemical Dispersants to treat Oil Spills
Thanks Senator Mary for the above info and vids.
Will I might discount any links that offer Alex Jones and his guests that prophecy the evacs of millions and the doomsday rhetoric, I DO believe there are impacts of all this, including toxic rains of sorts (did the Russians exagerate? I don’t know) that are going to be a national emergency from hurricanes and rains.
You just can’t release some 3 million or more BARRELS of oil into the Gulf, then dump millions of gallons of Corexit 9500 (or anything else we don’t know about) into the Gulf, by both pumping it down to the leaks and spraying it from the air . . . . . you just can’t DO these things without fucking up the entire ecosystems in the Gulf and on land.
Could this be an epic species ending event for many groups, the ruin and death of millions of humans, the destruction of thousands upon thousands of square miles? Could it all spread around the globe in a year?
Maybe.
But at BEST case scenerio, at VERY least the devastation is gonna be huge and rampant thru the Gulf and it’s shorelines. And likely many thousands of people will die in the next few years from one reason or another as a result of it all.
There’s just too many carcinogens in the water and in the air, with more to come.
Keep us informed and thanks for the vids.
Rcc’d, of course.
I live in north Louisiana. If its gonna rain oil, how much of the country will be a dead zone? Where will all the people go? How will they live when they get there.
Don’t expect any warning, preparedness steps, or plan of action to be taken by our government.
Obama’s gonna wait till BP and Thad Allen are simply unable to conceal all the bodies washing up in Panama City.
Seeing the cat in the background made me think about all the animals that are going to drink that oil.
The Corexit/antifreeze will kill them before the oil does.
Takes very little antifreeze to completely destroy their kidneys.
If they drink that water every day for a few days, they’re gonna die a horrible death.
We need percentages of Corexit/antifreeze in the rain water. Does anyone know if Gulf rains reach Northern Wisconsin?
Well if anyone knows they sure as shit aren’t tellin’.
If a cat or dog keeps drinking that water, or licking their feet dry as cats will do, I can assure you they will die.
If I’m remembering correctly, one teaspoon of antifreeze can kill them.
Diluted Corexit combined with diluted oil might buy them some time, but they’re doomed.
So much for letting criminals clean up their mistakes.
That only applies to elite criminals.
Everyone else gets their asses kicked, their face smashed in, and tased just for fun, but hopefully can maintain enough presence of mind to request Miranda.
Can cats and dogs smell the water and realize it’s not kewl to drink or walk in?
Sad that so many animals off shore and on shore are gonna die.
Actually, speaking strictly anti-freeze, they are attracted to it because it has a sweet taste.
Now, I’m sure oily water isn’t as tasty for them, but you know they drink from puddles almost involuntarily, especially dogs. They might not drink a lot at one watering hole but, the accumulated toxins will send them into kidney failure sooner or later.
I wish I never started thinking about the kitteh. It’s making me anxious.
Don’t forget to breathe.
Oh, you too?
My heart has always been with the animals, so I know what you’re saying.
I’ve fought against animal exploitation and atrocities my entire life.
But the last few years I reached a point where I couldn’t handle it anymore. I was going into these long jags of deep despair till I had to turn away from all of it or drive myself sick. Silly, huh. but I can’t help it. This will pass, I’m sure. Have to lose some of their pain before I could take on more, ya know?
So put the poosy out of your head right now. He/she looked fine, fed, and probably has a mom who realizes they’re surrounded by toxins and every family member including the furry kids must be protected.
I worked for an animal protection organization for a while and I remember one day doing research that involved (tangentally) going to sites that discussed vivisection. I was so disturbed I almost wanted to quit just to get away from the ideas floating around my head.
Ugh, the absolute worst horrors human beings ever mainstreamed on the animal world. Slaughterhouses are a party in compairson. Long, intense, suffering and our dear Congress allocated 39 billion from the Stimulus for more animal research last year.
It’s a barbaric business.
Cats don’t have the ability to taste “sweet” but dogs love sweet stuff. This won’t keep either one from drinking the water if they are thirsty enough I guess.
What a horror this is.
Is that right? Hmmm, didn’t know cats don’t taste sweet. Guess that’s why dogs like candy and cats don’t. They can’t taste all the fun, poor things.
Well, there’s something in anti freeze that attracts cats because I’ve personally seen them drawn to it. Vets have told me the same.
It’s gonna be horrible for all animals.
Good point but will a thirsty wild animal with no other source of water drink polluted water at some point? If not animals will start dying of thirst once the rain water makes its way through the entire water system at levels animals can detect.
Cats hate rain I’m thinking birds that drink rain water will be the first thing city folk will notice dying. Many newspapers are based in cities so if news happens in a city its easy for the MSM to cover.
They still might lap up the rain puddles.
Agreed.
WTF! Any science types here today I’m thinking New Orleans needs to be evacuated. The MSM pick up this story yet?
The top video has now been posted at Huffpo.
Thats good but we need the MSM Rachel and KO we need independent tests of the rain.
Can we get some samples of the rain and get them tested independently? Jim White or Kirk might know somebody who can do the testing.
Any farmers out there how much oil added to water to kill a crop. If we get percentages of the oil in the rain we can make a guess about how many inches of oil rain is needed to kill a crop.
Also rain in other cities should be tested the gulf I know brings rain at least as far north as Northern Illinois.
Crops don’t get harvested till November? I think that means even at low concentrations oil rain could kill lots of states crops.
Any farmers out there how much oil added to water to kill a crop. If we get percentages of the oil in the rain we can make a guess about how many inches of oil rain is needed to kill a crop.
We’ll have to start irrigating with Brawndo, its what plants crave.
http://remarc.com/craig/?p=209
Thats the kind of media spin we are dealing with. This story might be PR media counter spin I’m sure Rush, George Will and Haley Barbour will all mention it.
Or only card to pull is to get the next batch of rain water tested.
http://www.eutimes.net/2010/05/toxic-oil-spill-rains-warned-could-destroy-north-america/
My bold we have numbers on toxicity now we need numbers for the rain.
Sickening and scary.
The eutimes looks like a fascist newspaper. They claim their was a genocide against whites in South Africa and claim conspiracy against jews.
rather they claim there is a conspiracy of jews.
Thanks for looking at the source material.
And just how does that relate to the article describing the Russian scientists thoughts on the Gulf Disaster?
Said article itself I’ll admit, has some things I dismiss, but the science holds true.
judas priest — recommended, tweeted, and facebooked
Those two were links from the dude up above, including one of his links to Alex Jones and HIS disciples.
YOUR link went to some online station, with nothing to read.
Yer not panicing, are you?
To the point, we DON’T know measurable air or water quality levels yet, cuz no one’s taking them (wonder why!). Likely, it’s part of keeping this down media wise and not to spook the citizenry OR give fodder for criticism for ’10 or ’12, despite this Gulf Disaster being one of the WORST things to happen on this planet since Krakatoa.
So, we can READ these links about the chems involved, cringe at their evilness and carcinogen levels knowing full well in OUR boomer lifetimes we’ve learnt a lot about the science of corporate destruction (acid rain, open mining, mountain top removals, Love Canal and more) and what it kills.
Oh, Exxon Valdez.
But what we DON’T know yet, is how bad it WILL be.
And we CERTAINLY don’t know if the government has plans to evac millions of people.
So, as much as the crystal balls in our gut instincts tell us this is gonna HURT, hurt BAD, we don’t really yet know HOW bad.
Let’s make sure we check out links provided from posts and comments, let’s make sure we believe credible sources (or even hope we KNOW the sources) and let’s NOT jump off cliff from links to Alex Jones and others of his ilk. Or as Senator Mary points out above, links from those in the industry itself.
Is it bad? Hell yes. Will it get worse? Hell yeah, much worse.
How bad? How much worse?
We don’t know, yet. But Alex Jones and the oil industry itself is NOT a source I’d be looking to for answers.
Nor obscure websites that are obviously doomsday laden.
The Oil Drum, I’d trust. Perhaps, TCU, you might share YOUR thoughts, with Speakingupnow, at The Oil Drum, and see what THOSE professionals think.
I’d be greatly interested to learn of that feedback from those folks, at TOD.
Greatly, interested.
Try this one those were links included in what I quoted.
http://gazbom.blogspot.com/2010/05/benzene-killer-plans-in-place-to.html
Sorry my bad.
Big Wobble was one of the links Speakingup provided way up above, earlier today. While it’s got some good info and it has OTHER links to info, it in itself is not something I’d believe regarding forecasting or predicting what’s to come.
Not until this information is confirmed and we get a chemical analyst of the rain.
I almost didn’t post the vids cause of that.
Mary, I support fully and wholly for posting those vids.
They are essential (as long as we know they come from LA and the dude’s on the level).
They SHOW us what’s coming out of the sky, regardless of parts per million issues.
Unless those vids were showing natural sheen in water on the ground . . . (do we believe the dude or not?), then bad stuff is gonna be in the rain waters.
Again, I think you did the right thing to show the vids, and ask your questions.
TCU, and others, are asking great questions, too.
SOME links, I consider to be extremely, um, questionable, unto themselves.
We CAN speculate, and worry, I concur with you, and TCU on that . . . but with the caveat that you both are laying down, where’s the science?
I guess, I’m smiling and commending you both for presenting a lot of info, and questioning the science behind it.
So, well done both. I’m on board with ya both.
Thanks I hope we get some follow up maybe a local pup can collect some rainwater for analyst. If this story turns out to be true and we get independent scientific confirmation before the MSM. Well it still would be crappy news and raise questions about evacuations and crop losses.
But a scoop like this and colleges will teach blogging in journalism school.
Up here near you in the northern climes and thinking that last evenings severe weather (over an inch of rain in a hour) could have been dumping a new batch of toxins into the Great Lakes is scary, but who would someone recommend to contact to see if present day baseline water samples could be taken now, before the season’s first big hurricane activity in the GOM?
I’m contacting the local DNR office in Green Bay. Was offline most of yesterday or would have made the suggestion earlier. UWGB has been sampling numerous swimming beaches in the region for E.coli and could possibly already have baseline water samples that could do double duty.
Do you have a Department of Environmental Conservation? Try them. If they don’t respond I believe people can send away for air and water quality tests on their own. Try calling a home inspector. Ask them where you can buy a reliable testing kit or tips on any local labs that does environmental testing. They will surely know. I wouldn’t trust anyone in government, even local government.
I fear there is a massive Federal cover up and they’re not going to tell people anywhere if the air and water is now toxic. I also believe they have been taking tests all along, but are not disclosing the info because it’s really bad and getting worse.
My fears were heightened after reading a blog by Karl Denninger today.
(The Market Ticker is not some conspiracy radical blod by any stretch of the imagination, but Karl lives on the Fl coast and claims the beach has signs of being cleaned up, possibly in the dead of night.
http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/2446-Destins-Beaches-Whats-The-Truth.html
Could the federal government be ordering states to STFU and better not disclose any negative data about air and water quality? Shit, yes.
We can only hope that state officials will tell them to stuff it but I wouldn’t rely on that happening either.
Worker safety issue, it being significantly cooler at night to do the work and supposedly tar balls are easier to pick up when a couple degrees cooler.
There are a handful of enviro orgs with the where-with-all in this region to do some checking and sampling. Great Lakes sports fishing industry, (asian carp big story right now) and others. DNR contact to be able to say later we told you so, if adverse effects are noted elsewhere.
ok on the night cleaning, didn’t know that.
The way things are, I’m seeing boogie men behind everything now. LOL
My life is not quite that exciting. ;^)
Not much to joke about, lately.
Ask Jim White or Kirk Murphy both of whom are at Firedoglake who would they recommend to test the water.
Yes, indeed, those are the right people to ask!
Plus Jim is in Florida I believe he can take his own rain water samples. :)
I am trying not to panic but this is very bad indeed.
You sum up my feelings well. I’m with ya.
Me too. And I don’t trust a single person in the government – that I can think of, anyway – to tell us the truth and do the right thing. Anyone with that in mind gets headed off at the pass.
Heh. I’m with @30. Just trying to hold it together…
Here’s an article that starts out pooh-poohing the idea of it raining oil and then by the end reconsiders . . .
http://www.fastcompany.com/1663187/is-it-raining-oil-in-louisiana
My understanding is that the dispersant is a molecule that binds water to oil. So one question is whether that combined unit can get air/rainborn. Another is just whether the dispersant itself can get air/rainborne.
If the streets were concrete paved or cobblestone that would be more alarming, but asphalt is nothing but thick oil. It’s part of the hydrocarbon melange characteristic of reserves.
Wouldn’t this also mean that the oil is getting into the water table? That would mean that the water won’t be safe for humans obviously.
That was my thought, not just a question of killing flora and fauna which is bad enough, but it’s also going to contaminate drinking water, much of which comes from lakes and reservoirs. Whether or not it could contaminate ground water would depend on specific geology of selected regions.
New Orleans is so low that it almost floats on water. This could really be a much worse nightmare than we ever imagined.
It won’t just effect the Gulf coast. I think the entire U.S. east of the Rockies (at least) gets rain from moisture originating in the Gulf. We sometimes receive huge rains in Illinois within 24 hours of a hurricane making landfall in Louisiana and/or Texas.
We also have no idea what’s in the water and the areas where the cleanup crews are working. They are bringing it home on their shoes and their clothes.
Because of the oil business Louisiana was already one of the most contaminated states in the country.
Of course, but humans can make sure they only drink bottled water for starters. Now, it would be helpful if Mr. Transparent gave people a heads up but don’t hold your breath.
Nothing to worry about folks. Air quality’s fine, the seafood is fresh, and the beaches pristine. so come on down.
It’s all about covering up, lying, and obfuscating for BP from day one.
Bottled water is very expensive and they might have to drink it for years, if not forever. The people in La. and Alabama, and Florida are in a terrible situation and I don’t see a way out for them.
Yes, I thought of the cost but hell, if they don’t have any potable water what choice do they have?
If the K Street whores and Obama had any sense of justice anymore for the American people, BP would be paying for safe drinking water for however long is required.
And those plastic water bottles are derived from petroleum products. It’s all win-win for Big Oil.
No word aptly describes my feelings for Big Oil.
LOL. What a depressingly great point.
I don’t know who Alex Jones or the Big Wobble is, but if my trying to provide links to better understand something results in harassment, I won’t do it in the future.
My apologies. I explained my feelings about your links. I disagreed. I really wasn’t trying to insult you. :)
You are supposed to proffer champagne and flowers when someone showers you with linkage, even if they miss the mark.
“Missing The Mark?”
I guess that’s as good a nickname for it as anything.
1) You SHOULD know what the links you are providing are.
2) You are not being harassed, that’s quite weird of you to say so.
Ease up we don’t know those links either so we are skeptical…there are a lot of crazies on the Net.
This story is one where we kinda of hope we are wrong the consequences are that horrible. If this was the best link you could find with information then yes provide the link. In cases like this we don’t expect the Main Stream Media to provide any information.
Scientific articles however may have been written about these subjects. If available post links to them before you link to blogs. Hopefully most blog articles of this nature will link to science articles at some point.
The problem with the asphalt road is that it becomes oily during rains and thus slippery. This is relative to concrete pavement characters which tend not to get slippery during wet periods. Concrete was the preferred paving for interstate highway projects, but became so expensive to build and maintain, asphalt became the relatively cheap alternative. Cheap only because the externality cost of run-off from asphalt is left out of the calculation.
For whatever it’s worth BP has reattached the cap.
Oh, joy. Now we can all have a sound sleep.
I just found more eyewitnesses to the rain/oil in NOLA. These people say there was no oil in the rain today.
Maybe they are right. There is no oil in the rain. One thing for sure, they don’t like Ms. Huffington.
Well, we don’t know do we. But it could easily be localized. Just think about driving how it goes from rain to clear to rain in 50 yds.
I will talk to my brother and sister in New Orleans about this tomorrow.
That should be an interesting outcome . . . thanks for sharing all you do with us.
Great thread, thank you.
My sister says NO oil in rain in New Orleans!
Well, if she is still awake and really curious, she could go drive around the trailer park in River Ridge which seems to be where this was filmed. There is indeed a trailer park there you can see with google satellite.
Seems quite possible that the rains were so heavy that the drains overflowed and the oil could have come from somewhere else (the river?).
Yep. Could be. Or just dirty streets.
Not trying to add to the general depression about this clusterfuck our sisters and brothers along the coast are being subjected to…but even if the wildest speculations are only half as bad as supposedly possible, I believe we will witness great numbers of aquatic, land, and aviary animals horrible deaths, followed by the real possibility of human deaths at unthinkable numbers. Possible devastation of crops, soil, water, air and essentials to life widespread beyond the Gulf and across the Nation.
So I beg the question, that I have asked multiple times here at FDL…what the fuck is it going to take for the ‘small’ people to rise up as a great angered and anguished crowd and kick these people’s asses before this play is all over??
If not NOW, WHEN?… if not us, WHO? Are we really going to roll over and go into the night quietly, while the ‘elites’, BP Shitheads, ObamaRahm and the DC dynasty, and the Rethug/TeaParty idiots lie, laugh, weasel, destroy, and mindlessly play their god damn fiddles while the Nation burns?
My rant vibe is extremely high this evening! Sorry…
You posit the essential question of our lifetimes.
One that needs to be asked, daily.
Well done.
John Q Public has been infantilized, deceived, frightened. They will go like sheep to the slaughter. I wish I didn’t believe it, but I see no reason to think otherwise. As I said elsewhere, if a dozen nukes went off one day, 99% of the magazines in the store would make no mention of it. Control is total.
And still not the end to this issue, methinks . . . we’ll see as it plays out, and the gusher’s full effects come ashore with trop storms/’canes . . . . or without them, for that matter. Tidal action alone will bring it on.
It’s coating FL beaches now . . . . . I doubt we’ve seen the beginning of the damage. With or without rains.
Too many carcinogens, from oil and CorexIt, not to do damage.
Thanks for the on the ground report Mary . . . . tomorrow’s another day, and my best wishes for your family there, and everyone else there, and in AL, FL, etc.
Collectively, we have lost our minds. How did things get so bad that we (me) believe the worst before being proved otherwise?
We used to need an over-active imagination. Now all we need is a clue.
Republics have been getting corrupted since the beginning. Excessive corruption happens when too many people look the other way and nobody wants to stick their neck out. The final lesson of that great republican Machiavelli, the Machiavelli of the Discourses not the Prince, is that the fight against corruption is a daily struggle. The only guarantee is virtue. But that is a quaint word for us moderns. We believe in science and technology and progress. Look at W. Buffet. Just a year ago he said something totally idiotic, namely, that our children will have a much higher standard of living. Really Mr. Buffet? Have you calculated in environmental catastrophes and future wars? Really our elites know no history. Philosophy and history are unimportant to them. Just quaint things you can read while you are a freshman.
Mary oil in the rain still may happen. This could be a preemptive move by BP PR Agents Provocateur to discredit later oil in rain stories. The Huffpost did move suspiciously fast on this story thats not like them.
Still who is to say there are not trace amounts of oil and dispersant in the rain to small for us to detect?
How do PR guys like Karl Rove handle bad news? By discrediting it ahead of time.
I admit this could be a random Net Hoax it seems low rent even by GOP standards but in the end we still need the water tested. Only then do we know. I do not trust the EPA to give us the story not after the way they lied to 9/11 clean up workers.
That’s what happens after being consistently lied to for the last ten years. Combine that with the massive void in journalistic integrity during the most tumuiltuous time in our lifetimes and it’s only natural for people to speculate on the worst. It’s a predictable reaction to an unresponsive corpse of democracy. People feel helpless and vulnerable and with damn good reason.
Nothing wrong with thinking ahead and preparing. The vultures can’t be counted on to warn us of anything. It might disrupt the market sooner than later.
If I lived in the region and were lucky enough to have relatives elsewhere I’d start packing up all that matters right now and head out for a while. The entire region is already in economic freefall, and it’s fast becoming the largest Superfund site in world history (do those designations exist anymore?) I know it’s easier said than done but people gotta take care of their own. The US government doesn’t exist anymore.
50+ years of our government proven to be lying to us most of the time?
One more thought. The very few elites who do value history and philosophy tend to be the more nefarious ones.
We let a moron who found all of the answers to life’s hard questions in the puerile works of Ayn Rand destroy our economy. He is an idiot and we are suckers. If we valued the humanities, we would have laughed Greenspan out of town. But we let him run the show.
The first big storm and their will be oil in the air.
The people in our Government that think if they wait that oil will go away should be up on charges.
They act like that oil that’s miles off shore will just stay there in a storm.
People complain when I say that America is becoming ignorant, but then confirm it daily by letting all this stuff go on.
Some assume there couldn’t actaully be oil in the rain, but rainwater is water evaporated into the sky. This evaporation is so strong sometimes that many things are picked up with the water.
It has rained fish, frogs, bugs, and cats and dogs.
Thank you for saying how and why raining oil is not a long shot.
Benzene which is in the oil evaporates very quick I do not know about the other chemicals in oil. Benzene all by itself is a dangerous poison.
Their are over a hundred different chemicals in oil, and some do evaporte quickly when by themselves, but in a suspension of water it’s hard to tell just how quick they will evaporate.
Like most chemicals by themselves they act one way, but mix them, and strange results can happen. What they aren’t telling us is what the Corexit does to the molecular structure of those Chemicals in the oil. They tell us it breaks the oil up, but into what, and what does it do with the other chemicals that aren’t actually oil.
Another thing they aren’t telling us is water evaporates when the water surface gets hot, and the air is dryer picking the water up as evaporation. Yet a skim of oil on the water can act like a blanket, and keep the natural process of evaporation from happening as much. One might think this is good, but the results can change weather patterns, and no one knows what thet could mean.
I doubt it. Oil is to heavy to be carried a loft with water vapor to create rain. That sheen is more likely from the asphalt ( which is oil based and some asphalt does leak tiny bits of oil)or from leaked gasoline from cars.
Yeah, that’s the thing…in the video, the oil looks just like spilled oil looks after a rain. I’ve never seen so much in one place, though.
Those saying it’s impossible because oil is too heavy are ignoring the fact that we’re talking about oil treated with chemical dispersants, the purpose of which is to dilute the oil by breaking it down and binding it to water.
I’m not a scientist, I’m just saying few, if any of us are qualified to confirm or deny this possibility.
Not only that, but think a minute people. I’m no scientist or meteorologist either, but Michael Whitney has reported just how noxious the fumes are. And what are fumes? The off-gassed components of the oil, light enough to become airborne. They do not stop at nose level but continue to rise into the atmosphere. A rainstorm comes through and literally washes these gases back to earth, and as described on the video, the rain system “came off” the Gulf. So it’s entirely possible that the gases, high in the atmosphere, joined with the precip, became hydrated, and fell on New Orleans. A whole new version of acid rain.
For those doubting a rain system could “carry” the liquified gases this way, note that, when the wind is just right, “lake effect” snow from Lake Erie can be deposited as far away as Philadelphia, over 300 miles to the South and East.
Oil has a smell that smell is caused by chemicals in the air. Chemicals in the air I would think could bond with water or just be carried by water like rain. I would like anyone to prove otherwise.
I am hoping I am wrong though.
TCU
My dad died an of inoperable brain tumor, way too young, and this affliction was common among people employed in the petro-chemical industry. That smell was on him everyday he can home from that job. I won’t forget it. This is very personal to me.
Peace
My grandfather was a chemist for Standard Oil and then went into the oil business with my dad. He died from esophageal cancer.
Point being that we should all be more than aware of the, “potential,” dangers of known pollutants. I wish I could comment on how mundane a position he held without identifying myself to family and close relatives who might be reading this. 1998 at age 72.
Thanks for the response and the great thread.
Since I use my real name I have to be really careful when referring to family members. I try not to do it often.
Clouds are formed by uplift of rising heated air which carry moisture and reach the freezing point and become visible. Clouds resemble ice cream cones but you can’t see the cone. When convective weather is formed from rising solvent and oil fumes, you can bet that the precipitation coming out of the thunderhead later, many miles up the road will be raining toxic petroleum
Can we test the air and water ourselves? Not individually but start a non-profit entity to do the work independently of BP and the government.
Where do we start?
Or perhaps there is a group out there doing this now.
There are independent testing labs all over the place; homeowners are often required to avail themselves of their services before selling a home fed by well water.
Check your yellow pages under “Testing laboratories” or maybe “Water Evaluation” or some combination thereof. If you still can’t find any, find a home inspection service and they can likely refer you.
Good idea.
Surely there are colleges and state agencies in Louisiana that already collect rain water for meteorological research. The point being that hopefully their samples are free of potential cross contamination via contact with the ground or the collection device.
One would HOPE some of them are already testing for contaminants although the oil industry has so much clout that any state funded agency might be tempted to suppress damning evidence, if it exists.
It wouldn’t hurt to contact some of the major universities to inquire about any related research.
Possibly this would be a place to start.
My brother is a weather freak. And he sells nautical charts so he is involved in a couple of different ways scientifically. And he lives in New Orleans. He may even know some Tulane profs. I need to couch my requests as “sanely” as possible though. Many white folks in New Orleans (ok, my family) think Mary Landrieu is a liberal.
All the more reason to go to a lab referred by a home inspector. Just tell ‘em it came from the tap of a house you’re considering.
Yes we need college chemistry students who might work for free! Or for the right to use the results in a peer reviewed journal.
I think PH.D students and Professors need to get published.
I think the question isn’t whether oil and dispersants will evaporate up and precipitate out as rain etc. — some of it will, there seems little doubt. What will be more important is what level of concentrations of these pollutants will occur in the precipitation. I would really like to see some math on that by someone who does those kinds of analyses professionally. And yes, I understand that even low concentrations are harmful. But the total amount of liquid water in a stormcloud is very, very large, and the evaporation process tends to spread the resulting vapor around pretty evenly. Do we wind up with a homeopathic-like vanishingly low dosage of the pollutants? Or is there enough to produce an acid-rain-like toxic chemical bath? I don’t know the answer, and that’s why I want to see the real math.
Composed a simple letter to my US representatives urging them to demand immediate baseline readings of lakes and rainfall through state universities and state department of natural resources as it is likely we are an area potentially affected by pollutants as described in this tread.
Suggested that making the call for and public display of results of baseline (and future) water quality readings public, (my reps are progressive) that this can be used as a campaign advantage in publicly looking out for the safety and welfare of our citizens, and in light of the FDL post today about southern state RICO filings,
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/56508
may have the advantage of enjoining any potentially successful legal actions with local proof of potential adverse effects due to the future presence of of these pollutants.
Far-fetched, maybe, but I wanted to present this to my reps with some sense of urgency and from an angle that might give them a blatant self-interest, i.e. re-election.
Good move. Thanks for doing that!
11 ppm oil is toxic at thats 11 parts per million or 11 drops of oil in 50 liters of water. I have doubts at that level you could see, smell, taste the oil but I am not a chemistry expert. any bets just 5 drops of oil diluted in 50 liters of water could make you very sick?
We also need the rain water tested for Corexit also just because their is no oil now well if we get a hurricane that water should be tested independent of the EPA.
I think you might be on to something big Mary. big and scary.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parts-per_notation
All true. But what will the actual Corexit vs. water numbers be in real-world weather?
Thats why we need to test the rain water and keep testing it especially during a hurricane or a tropical storm.
I doubt the EPA has data on this.
Brain tumors, Cancer crop loses could cause widespread famine The news just gets worse I’m sorry for both your losses.
Feingold, Kohl and Kagen? Go to their websites and express your concerns. Do give it, “your,” best. Be polite and two is better than one.
I didn’t read all the comments here but I wanted to warn EVERYONE that the person who posted this video is a WELL KNOWN con artist, liar and troublemaker. Research him under his many names “DramaTube”, “TheDramaTube”, “Casey Nunez”, “Psycho Hurricane” and others. This video is a hoax to generate drama for his YouTube channel, it is by far not the first time he’s done something like this nor the worst thing he’s ever done. The man is very very sick in the head. Multiple people posted their own videos in the same area showing that there was NO oil in the rainwater. Casey’s video and subsequent attention it may get will draw attention away from the real problems in the area just so he can get more attention on himself. He should be thrown in jail for the things he does. PLEASE do not encourage this behavior or his lies.