Operation Truth: Toxic Rain Reality Check Testing

Got the first rain in about a month here too (Maryland, about 20 minutes outside Baltimore City) yesterday and I collected a bit of water in a cup sitting in the middle of my yard and it was clear as crystal. It smelled fine and there was no unfamiliar odors in the air, just that muggy rain smell. I think the rain came from the WSW direction and some lingered near the east coast which threw a bit more rain my way. We have a chance of rain pretty much every day through Sunday, so I'll keep an eye out for anything unusual.

The promised storms never arrived here, but we did get a small shower during the night (Friday into Saturday) and the scant 1/2" or so caught in the rain gauge was completely normal. The white towel hung out does not have any staining on it. Hubby moved my collection pitcher when he mowed and forgot to put it back, so i got nothing in that.

My friend whose shirt turned brown after being rain-soaked a couple of weeks ago came for a visit yesterday and she had a couple of interesting things to report.

First: She said she'd laundered the shirt and the brown staining did not fully wash out. I asked her to describe the staining and she said it was in 'waves' near the bottom of the shirt and the bottom of the sleeves ~ just as water would sink as it accumulated on a hanging towel, for instance.

Second: Her father (lives in same area) has one of those 4' tall above ground swimming pools. He's physically unable to maintain it, so he had asked her a several weeks ago to drain it, scour it, and get it set up again so that he could use it. She had drained and cleaned it, but not refilled it, by the time the big storms started up in her area. She said the pool sits in an open area; not under any trees or anything else that could drip or drain into it; and has now collected about 8-10" of rain water. She reports there is a definite, though not heavy, "rainbow" across the top of the rainwater collected in the pool identical to the type of rainbow one would associate with oil in a parking lot puddle.

She's not, at this time, making a claim that there was oil in any of the rains they received out there, but is firmly stating that there is no way oil could have been introduced into that pool by any other means.

Take a look at the video Hx3 found. I am not saying this is definite proof, however, it does raise some suspicion.



Thanks,

Pax

reply to post by SeesFar


Thanks for that info SeesFar............If you can have her take a sample from the pool. I know this will not prove anything due to where the sample is being collected but when we are able to start testing the samples we can send it in just to see what results follow..........

Originally posted by Cloudsinthesky
reply to post by SeesFar

 

If you can have her take a sample from the pool.

Will do, Clouds.

Does it need to be kept refrigerated? Did one of Pax's posts suggest refrigerating any samples?

After another night of heavy rains here in Maryland, I noticed something strange when I went out to check the trees and plants on my property.

I grow morning glories and have for a few years straight now and I noticed that random leaves had died throughout the vines which I'd never seen happen before during my experiences with this plant. There are holes in some of the leaves, but some appear to be insect damage and other spots appear to be "burned" and many of these burned spots appear where there is white powdery stuff. Some of my salvia bonfires also have white speckled leaves which were not there yesterday. One of my trees looks strange too. The leaves, which were green yesterday, now appear to be turning purple. This isn't just one leaf either, it's the whole tree. Admittedly, I never examined the leaves that closely before, so I will keep an eye on that over the next week or so to see if it gets worse. Another tree also appears to have burn holes through some of the leaves and they are changing from a deep green to a lighter green with some brown spots in the middle of leaves and some dead ones. The snowball-like bush (i forget the name of it) in my backyard, which I have examined closely more than once, now has leaves that are dying and dead spots in the middle of the leaves which I've never seen before on this scale. There is also some white powder, but not as much as what is on the plants and trees in the front yard.

My neighbors trees also have this powdered white coating on some leaves and also have dead spots. I collected rain during the day yesterday and found nothing unusual, but I did not collect any last night so I don't know if the water was clear or not. I am open to this being nothing and me just not noticing before, but the snowball-like bush and the morning glory made me examine other things because that struck me as weird. I didn't go outside to look for anything initially because I was under the impression the stuff hadn't gotten up here. I just happened to notice the MG condition which left me scratching my head.

Like I said, it could be nothing and I am open to it being nothing, but will keep my eye on this situation just in case. Also, the rain yesterday came from a SSW direction. Drawing a line straight down this SSW direction leads straight to the gulf. I hope this is nothing and will be looking for signs that it is nothing and just my imagination. I will try to collect water the next time it rains even if it's at night.

reply to post by Kratos1220


You grow morning glories?

on purpose?

i cant get them out of my garden, no matter how much i try.


edited to say i love your sig.

Do and Due are two more

[edit on 13-7-2010 by justadood]

I posted a thread about a C2C interview on this subject. At about 5:16 minutes he (David Sereda) gives advice about how to test and what to do with it. It's definitely worth listening to.

corrected part:



[edit on 7/13/2010 by sad_eyed_lady]

Originally posted by justadood

You grow morning glories?

on purpose?

i cant get them out of my garden, no matter how much i try.


edited to say i love your sig.

Do and Due are two more

Heh, yep. I grow them from seed though and get compliments on the flowers. The kind you have is probably the wild morning glories which are nearly impossible to eradicate. Leave even one piece of root in the ground and it'll grow back. The ones I grow are annuals and don't come back unless I replant it.

The sig, yeah. I can't believe how many people say "loose", "loosing" or "loosers" when they mean the word with the single "o". Not just talking about this forum either. It has taken the net by storm and really gets under my skin for some reason.

Okay, don't want to derail this thread anymore.

Originally posted by Kratos1220
After another night of heavy rains here in Maryland, I noticed something strange when I went out to check the trees and plants on my property.

There are holes in some of the leaves, but some appear to be insect damage and other spots appear to be "burned" and many of these burned spots appear where there is white powdery stuff. Some of my salvia bonfires also have white speckled leaves which were not there yesterday. One of my trees looks strange too. The leaves, which were green yesterday, now appear to be turning purple. This isn't just one leaf either, it's the whole tree.

Have you watched this video and read the story: www.wreg.com... What you're describing sounds rather similar to what's reported there. I apologize if i'm posting something you've already seen/read; but, if you haven't, maybe you could compare what the vid is showing to what you're seeing.

Here is the "explanation" TPTB came up with for it: www.wreg.com... I just don't buy that explanation a bit.

That must have been a big tank Fed Ex dumped over Tennessee for it to reach from Western Quebec to Florida.
We are having the same symptoms here in Quebec and Eastern Ontario.

reply to post by sad_eyed_lady


Thank you so much for this video and the information. I have contacted George Noory at Coast and explained what we are doing. I have asked for David Sereda's email address and a means to contact him.

I will let you know if and when I hear back.

Thanks,

Pax

I'm new to this thread. I live in E. Tn. We just had some heavy rainfall over the weekend. We left our dog out over the weekend, with his water decanter and dish, and both filled with rainwater. The water is a bright orange-brown. The water dispenser has an upper chamber that releases fresh water into the bowl below. The rain water that fell into the bowl actually contaminated the water in the upper chamber as well, and the upper chamber water is orange-brown too. I have never seen rain like this. Prior to this, I have been noticing plants everywhere I go (around town, around my home, and in the Smokies) have what appears to be burned white spots on them, many are burned through. I left a towel hanging out on my deck rail over the weekend, and it had a white powder all over it after the rain. Very odd. Any thoughts?

Update...
collected water ina large jar, and am in the process of cleaning bowls with hose. I filled one to and as the sun was shining directly down on it, I noticed that it has a swirling oily surface, UGH. I came in to get my camera again, so I can prove this to my husband (he is very skeptical).

So many things seem common with rain. After two heavy rains over the last 24 hours, I noticed my bird bath this morning. It had a coating on the surface of the water which looked like a layer of thin wax. When I ran my finger over the water I could see the film separate. Weird.
And the plants look sadder and sadder.

155+1 posts, theres still no progress ? How hard can it be to have one single rain water sample test done ? Even have just one rain water sample tested by whatever bp-related lab, and add some no-bp-related lab, or even two bp-related labs. At least would tell the differences in those two lab results with the same water sample..

Big credit to the 3 OP's/projectors for good intentions. Was looking forward to some results. With 15 moderators in this thread, why isnt Mercenary2007's posts removed ? Suppose 20 other critics drop by like him, making this thread 2000+ posts, and a long useless read.

The precautions posted, 'not to touch, smell, breathe/inhale/sniff'....a rain water test sample ? ...isn't that the same as saying 'stay inside when it rains' ? or 'don't walk barefooted'..or 'hold your breath' ?

Sorry for being harsh, but really gettin impatient, and thinking there no more interesting reading in this thread, at least not with the recent postings. People posting videos and links, and even more videos and links. Why would one read this thread to get yet dozens of videos and links from youtube and such. People with all those wicked looking plants, could have the leaves tested, if the really cared.. Or simply have two identical plants, keep one inside, and keep one outside, something like that. People who post that their garden looks 'weird' and still no clue of the location, what's the use of that? Entertainment ?

reply to post by chapzeroevolve


The price was the issue I think.

The emails I sent to FSU professors, and later forwarded to the generic FSU Chemistry department box have gotten no responses.

I don't know why? If I was a Grad Student, I would be all over this. There is grant money to be had, and publicity, and articles to publish. This is a PhD waiting to happen! Why not jump on it?

reply to post by chapzeroevolve


Sorry for the lack of updates but this project is far greater than a single water test. You ask how hard is it to get “one” sample tested? It’s not once you find a lab that knows what they are talking about and can perform certain test. But this project can not be based on one single sample.

Is cost a factor ……”Yes”. A single toxicity test starts at 500+ and that’s just the start. You can add a couple thousand dollars on top of that test as the sample goes though chemical testing.

I want to give credit to Paxnatus for the fact that she has been on the phone everyday since last week. There is a lot happening right now behind the scenes…………..

So a little patience is requested as we push into “uncharted” waters……..

As far as my sample …….It has been sent off to a University for toxicity testing……and hopefully to establish a protocol for future sample testing.

Many have sent U2U messages wanting to participate and I am counting on your help when this project becomes “official”

If you get any rain samples that look suspicious please do not hesitate to contact me.

I will make one final comment…….Even if the well is capped……the amount of oil and dispersants already released into the Gulf will affect all of us for the next 20+ years.

We need to know for sure that the toxins in the Gulf remain there for the clean-up and not in our atmosphere as a toxic rain...

This makes our project even more important than ever……..

Thanks,

Clouds


[edit on 16-7-2010 by Cloudsinthesky]

Hello Clouds,

You and your friends are much appreciated, thank you for sticking with this.

Just a moment ago I was trying to do my own research about "risk assessments" and came across this. I have no idea if it is of any importance or if it would help you in any way, but you never know

www.cleanwaternetwork.org...

I wish you the best and again thank you for all you and the others are doing to get some straight answers.

best regards

sl

Hello everyone,

I appreciate Clouds for having the guts to launch this project. After speaking with some of the top toxicologists in the country, I can tell you we are definitely in uncharted waters.

With anything in life, patience comes hard, couple that with the fact we know
we are not being told the truth. Through extensive research and personal conversations I have learned of some of the deceit going on in front of our faces.

Here is a bit of startling news I ran across involving Columbia Analytics. Keep in mind I was told by the director of the lab, they were not involved with BP or the government.

Conflict of Interest Worries Raised in Spill Tests

"I do think the law brings the polluter into the process, and that creates complications,” Professor Parenteau said. “That doesn’t mean, however, that the government has to exit the process or relinquish control over decision-making, like it may be in this case.”

Dismissing concerns about conflicts of interest at his lab, James M. Brooks, the president and chief executive of TDI-Brooks International, said his company was chosen because of its prior work for the federal government.

“It is a non biased process,” he said. “We give them the results, and they can have their lawyers argue over what the results mean.” He added that federal officials and BP were working together and sharing the test results.

Federal officials say that they remain in control and that the concerns about any potential conflicts are overblown.

Douglas Zimmer, a spokesman for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, said the agency simply did not have the staff to handle all the animals affected by the oil spill.

BP has more resources to hire workers quickly, he said, and letting local organizations handle the birds would have been impractical and costly.

“I also just don’t believe that BP or their contractor would have any incentive to skew the data,”

he said. “Even if they did, there are too many federal, state and local eyes keeping watch on them.”

But Stuart Smith, a lawyer representing fishermen hurt by the spill, remained skeptical, saying that federal and state authorities had not fulfilled their watchdog role. Last month, for example, various state and federal Web sites included links that directed out-of-work fishermen to a BP Web site, which offered contracts that limited their right to file future claims against the company.

Do you honestly believe that BP or the Feds. wouldn't skew the data?
I don't. Everyone has their hand in this cookie jar.

In deciding where to send their water, sediment and tissue samples, state environmental officials in Florida and Louisiana said NOAA instructed them to send them to BB Laboratories, which is run by TDI-Brooks.

Though Florida has its own state laboratory that is certified to analyze the same data, Amy Graham, a spokeswoman for the Department of Environmental Protection there, said the state was sending samples to B & B “in an effort to ensure consistency and quality assurance.”

Scott Smullen, a spokesman for NOAA, said that two other labs, Alpha Analytics and Columbia Analytical Services, had also been contracted, but officials at those labs said B & B was taking the lead role and receiving virtually all of the samples.

www.nytimes.com...

So you see the guy blatantly lied straight to my face!

I posted this as a means to show everyone how complicated this process has become.

Speaking with the Vice President and a chemical toxicologists of lab on the West Coast, I was told this:

"If Columbia is able to test for DSS or DOSS, the chemical compound that proves Corexit 9500 is being used, then they have inside information that the rest of us don't have. There is no way to determine if Corexit 9500 is used unless you have a list of ALL the ingredients in Corexit. The Gov. which regulates the EPA has left off several of the chemicals that make up Corexit." I know this because all we have is the MSDS to go by. This leaves most research scientists in the dark."

So there you have it.

Now I understand how patience are waring thin. But trust me there are things going on behind the scenes continuously. Things are not the way they seem.

We have not given up and when clouds said "we will test water samples". Believe me will.

The most important thing to think about is your part in collecting the samples.

Samples can be captured in plastic or glass, but need to be stored in glass, and refrigerated.

If you have a sample that you want tested contact Clouds through u2u. We are in the process of establishing the protocols.

Thank you so much for checking back on this thread.

Pax