As Mess Is Sent to Landfills, Officials Worry About Safety

[groovedaddy]

PORT FOURCHON, La. — Cleanup crews here wear a common uniform of straw hat, white rubber boots and a sheen of sweat as they collect the bedraggled and oil-soaked pompoms that are strung along Fourchon Beach.

The pompoms — balls of absorbent streamers laid down to soak up the oil as it reaches shore — are part of a growing mass of waste that is springing from the cleanup of what has been estimated as the worst oil spill in United States history.

About 35,000 bags — or 250 tons — of oily trash have been carted away from this beach, said Lt. Patrick Hanley of the Coast Guard, who is stationed at Port Fourchon. And as of Monday, more than 175,000 gallons of liquid waste — a combination of oil and water — had been sent to landfills, as had 11,276 cubic yards of solid waste, said Petty Officer Gail Dale, also of the Coast Guard, who works with at the command center in Houma.

Michael Condon, BP’s environmental unit leader, said that tests have shown that the material is not hazardous, and can safely be stored in landfills around the region that accept oil industry debris. The checklist and procedures involved, Mr. Condon said, are part of a process “we do very well and have done for a long time.”

But some local officials, environmental lawyers and residents who live near landfill sites are not convinced.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/15/science/earth/15waste.html?th&emc=th

[Ruby the Liberal]

1. Whats the problem? BP said its safe.

:sarcasm: < incase needed.

[liberal N proud]

2. Whats to worry about, It's 100% Natural!

It's just a little oil.

:sarcasm: