Mercury contamination at some rigs on par with Superfund sites
By BEN RAINES Mercury contamination at some oil and gas rigs in
the Gulf of Mexico appears to be so severe that the rigs could
qualify for the National Priorities List, a roll call of the
nation's most hazardous contaminated sites. Placement on the
National Priorities List -- which would ultimately depend on
approval by federal agencies -- can eventually lead to a federal
"Superfund" clean-up effort, like those at Love Canal in New
York and at Cold Creek Swamp and the Olin Basin in south
Alabama. But federal officials say that the rigs are unlikely to
ever make the list -- in spite of any hazards they may pose to
humans -- because at least some of the contamination might have
been the result of federally permitted releases of pollutants.
The Mobile Register found that the rigs could warrant a place on
the National Priorities List by applying formulas outlined in
the U.S. Environment Protection Agency's widely available Hazard
Ranking System and it