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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

GULF SEAFOOD GETS CHEMICALLY TESTED FOR OIL, NOT DISPERSANT

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/gulf-seafood-gets-chemically-tested-for-oil-not-dispersant

If you've been following this blog, I mentioned the safety of seafood from the Gulf some time in the last week or two.

Please be careful with what you eat.

When I was a kid growing up in Staten Island, NY, tarballs were nothing new - they came from various incidents at sea, from drydocks...who knew? They were so commonplace that usually there was a jar of kerosene in the car and a rag for your feet and hands.

The water was polluted - everyone knew that. Interesting objects floated on the surface, occasionally areas of rainbow-slicked water. Sometimes the fish Dad caught tasted like diesel and had to be thrown away.

But it was nothing like the Gulf disaster. Seabirds still plied the water, hunted for tiny prey the wake of breakers on the beach. Seagulls gathered in great flocks. Some fish disappeared, like Lafayettes and little snappers. And although the water where I learned to swim was often the color of pea soup or cloudy onion - so dense you couldn't see your legs. But that was on the edge of NY harbor.

The beaches of South Jersey were immaculate, the water blue, clean and cold.

I really pray for the people and the wildlife, the estuaries, the Gulf and its children. This distruction never should have happened. We are finding out, day by day, that it is all about politics and greed, or maybe the politics of greed.

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