Earth Watch Report - Strange Phenomenon
| 19.06.2013 | Biological Hazard | USA | State of Indiana, Porter [Porter Beach] |  |  |
Biological Hazard in USA on Wednesday, 19 June, 2013 at 04:29 (04:29 AM) UTC.
| Description | |
| Officials remain baffled as to how a dark, slick substance that forced dozens of swimmers out of the water at a northwest Indiana beach mysteriously vanished. "They checked the beach, and they can't find any evidence of it," Indiana Department of Environmental Management spokesman Barry Sneed told ABCNews.com. "Authorities figure it may have sunk, or moved farther north. It's a strange phenomenon." Swimmers notified law enforcement authorities that a dark-colored residue stretching nearly a mile long on Lake Michigan had appeared on the surface of the water at Porter Beach in Porter, Ind., Monday afternoon, Sneed said. Porter Fire Department Deputy Chief Jay Craig told ABCNews.com that when he arrived at the lake the water looked slick with what appeared to be oil. Upon further inspection, the substance was a gun-metal gray with metal flakes in it. Craig said you could tell how deep someone had been in the water depending on where their bodies were stained with the dark residue. Officials shut down the beach as the Coast Guard, the Indiana Department of Natural Resources and the National Park Service were called in to help identify the slime. The appearance of the unidentifiable slick forced the closure of five northern Indiana beaches on Lake Michigan, Sneed said. Indiana Dunes State Park remains closed as a result of strong waves and rip tides, but other beaches in the area have issued a swim at your own risk advisory. Meanwhile, officials work to determine what the mysterious substance was and where it could have gone. While authorities worried that the sheen could spread east toward Michigan City, Ind., Sneed said the substance was nowhere to be found this morning. Sneed said that while preliminary testing of water samples indicated the mystery sheen might have been a food additive that was also used in fertilizer, this morning's reading revealed it might have been a type of acid. While the tests yield variable results, samples were sent to a lab for further analysis, Sneed said. | |
| Biohazard name: | Unidentified substances |
| Biohazard level: | 0/4 --- |
| Biohazard desc.: | This does not included biological hazard category. |
Surfer: Chemical Slicks Common On NW Indiana Beaches
June 19, 2013 9:13 AM
CHICAGO (CBS) – Environmental authorities in Indiana said preliminary results have found that an additive used in food and fertilizer and a metal cleaning agent were in the slick found on the lake this week. Someone who spends a lot of time on the lake doesn’t believe it was an isolated incident.“It’s been a dirty week for Lake Michigan,” said Basil Tydings, an East Coast transplant who lives in the Chicago area because of the lake.
“Sometimes the lake water tastes like the air smells,” he said.
Indiana state officials banned swimming along parts of the lakefront and advised swimmers of possible contamination, after a slick first believed to be oil was spotted near Porter Beach on Monday. Officials later determined the substance was a combination of D-gluconic acid, which is used as a metal cleaner, and tricalcium orthophosphate, an additive in food and fertilizers.
Officials have said it’s not highly toxic, and they were working to determine exactly where it came from. The Indiana Department of Environmental Management said a nearby manufacturer makes tricalcium orthophosphate, but it was not clear if that company was the source.
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