When the Coast Guard tells me the National Response Center will laugh (silently) when I report oil sheens like that pictured above, the reality is the National Response Center never does seem to respond when I report petroleum spills like today, spills that are miles long. As I understand it, the way petroleum spills are dealt with is to "let the sun" evaporate it. Huh? Think about that for a moment. Let spilled crankcase oil or whatever evaporate from water and it'll just magically disappear? That is the best solution available in this era of wisdom?
The CDC put out an article that talks about the important difference between new and used mineral motor oil because of the heavy metal difference, many of the metals of which are harmful to human health. While liquid may evaporate, it says used oil contains concentrations of lead, zinc, calcium, barium, magnesium, iron, sodium, copper, aluminum, chromium, manganese, potassium, nickel, tin, silicon, boron, and molybdenum. Metals don't evaporate - they find their way into the creek sediment. The list of metals above in used motor oil comes from the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry and the Center for Disease Control, not me.
But, we use synthetic oil now. According to the EPA, you can find arsenic, lead, nickel, and cadmium in used synthetic crankcase oil. Also, the use of Synthetic Oils may result in increased PAHs entering storm water which in turn will result in higher concentrations of Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons in our bays and oceans. A number of PAHs are classified as "probably carcinogenic to humans." And how many other chemicals that they don't tell us about are put in motor oils to enhance them?
There was time to get a response crew out to this spill, get absorbent boom on the water, and drag the boom along the surface of the creek. The absorbent material would have been like a magnet to remove the oil. But in Mobile, we ignore oil spills. None of the parking lot inlets where leaky engine motor oil gets washed into the storm water in heavy rains, have oil separators, except for maybe Dauphin Island and a few other experimental projects. But such storm water inlet filters exist. Mobile just has no priority when it comes to clean water.
My apologies to the next generations. There will be much more cancer in your day a result of our "let it evaporate" philosophy from the leaders of this generation. Meantime, we keep building roads for cars only to keep the dependence on cars and motor oils alive.
On the bright side, if you are out on foot getting some exercise on this trail and trip on a root, a clump of grass, or at the bridge where the there is a significant drop off and get hurt, or you wreck the bicycle because of the bumps or dangerously close signs, the pattern of the City of Mobile's neglect of this trail is well documented. That is what lawsuits are for - to hold those shirking their responsible liable when you get hurt because of that neglect.