Exploding Water? Gulf Water Sample Tested For Oil Explodes In Lab

The Alabama Gulf Coast is known for many things, like Civil War era fortresses and alcohol-soaked spring breaks. But now, the southern strip of white sand beaches has another, less flattering trademark attraction thanks to the BP oil disaster: exploding water.

WKRG News in Mobile, Ala. recently ran an investigative report to see just how much oil and petroleum is in the water and sand along the Gulf shore of the state. Anchor Jessica Taloney took samples from popular tourist destinations like Orange Beach, Katrina Key, Gulf Shores, and Dauphin Island, then handed them over to chemist Bob Newman for testing. According to Newman, sand and water along the Gulf Coast should not contain any traces of oil or petroleum, but given the circumstances, still no more than five parts per million of the substance.

The results are unsurprisingly well over this estimate – the lowest quantity of oil and petroleum found was 16 parts per million in water from Katrina Key, the highest being 221 parts per million in a sample taken from a pool of water in Orange Beach where a child was playing.

What is surprising, however, is what happened to a water sample from Dauphin Island Marina when Newman tried to test it for oil. Upon adding the same organic solvent used in the previous tests to the sample (which was gathered near an oil containment boom) the water exploded within seconds, breaking its glass container. Newman hypothesizes that the explosion was the result of the presence of methane gas or a chemical oil dispersant in the water, but since the sample blew up, results for oil and petroleum content were inconclusive.

Gives a whole new meaning to “oil containment boom,” doesn’t it?

Watch the full WKRG report, in two parts, below: