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.
The amount of oil and petroleum on Alabama's beach should be undetectable, according to Bob Naman, an analytical chemist with nearly thirty years of experience. Naman says at most he would expect our samples to contain 5 parts per million of oil, but to his surprise, 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.
To watch News Five Investigates: Testing The Waters click on the video box.
Part One: Collecting The Samples
WKRG.com News
Part Two: The Results
WKRG.com News
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