Storm's hidden effects troubling (Alabama)

[preciousdove]

http://www.montgomeryadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050912/OPINION01/509090408/1006
September 12, 2005

...State and federal authorities have been pulling fishing boats, barrels, pesticide containers and other items from the Gulf waters off Alabama's coast. They're keeping an eye out for fish kills, large numbers of dead birds and other signs of environmental damage.

Steve Jenkins, director of field operations for the Alabama Department of Environmental Management, says there is no way to estimate the amount of gasoline, diesel fuel, oil, paint and other materials that could be entering the water. At least 70 boats were sunk or capsized off Bayou La Batre, for example. "Obviously, some of them have released fuel -- oil, diesel, primarily gasoline," he said.

Eight above-ground fuel tanks from service stations, some with 10,000-gallon capacities, were missing after the storm. Sales records indicate that two of them were empty, but the others could create problems.

Personnel from ADEM, the Coast Guard and the federal Environmental Protection Agency have found propane tanks, paint cans, pesticide containers, 55-gallon drums and other containers. It is often impossible to tell how much of the substances these items contained -- and in some cases even to tell what they contained...