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Hazmat response to Dorchester Yacht Club called off when it turns out stuff in the water was pollen, not oil
By adamg on Mon, 04/25/2016 - 1:11pm
Boston Fire, Boston Police and Coast Guard crews all responded to the Dorchester Yacht Club off Savin Hill today on a report of a possible oil spill.
But then they realized the stuff was actually pollen, probably washed down from I-93. A yacht-club worker said the pollen spills have happened before.
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Comments
yeah
this happens every year to every body of water.
Still,
It's nothing to sneeze at.
Wow.
I've never seen pollen in/on the water that looked like oil or vice versa. I wonder who called.
its a baby whale
its a baby whale
All the thumbs
For you.
Dirty Dot
pollen.
Probably some busy-body
Walking their dog on the beach in Savin Hill with too much time on their hands.
Here's what it looks like
Hydraulic fluid can can resemble pollen if the light hits it right. I know the difference between that and pollen, so when I checked out a plume on the Malden River the other day, I knew it was pollen - this time. Pollen looks powdery up close and tends to be much brighter green than hydraulic fluid. They can look the same from a distance, though.
Pollen can also look like antifreeze, which is bad for a waterway (and can spill out of cars on I-93). That can be trickier to spot, but antifreeze is usually in continuous plumes compared to a pollen raft (and will have a smaller plume due to dilution).
I don't think anyone was
I don't think anyone was asking what it looked like.
You said that you'd never seen it
Now you have.
Also important for others to know, to prevent hazmat calls.
Now run along and do your homework.
I guess you're reading
I guess your reading comprehension is getting rusty. Maybe you ought to read my comment again.
It is important for people to recognize the difference; so they aren't wasting important resources. The individual could have done a quick Google search (like you) to avoid such a response.
Since the response was to Dorchester Yacht Club, that would lead one to believe that there was a marine oil spill. Marine diesel is pink, and engine oil would not have the green/yellow appearance that the pollen has, or at least the pollen that I have observed in the Neponset River, Dorchester Bay and Boston harbor during the spring and summer for many years.
Thanks for nothing, now you can get back to being Uhub's #1 antagonist. Always has to comment on everything.
*antifreeze was not mentioned in the post at all, you brought that into it.
yeah
happens every year like i said. anybody thats ever owned or spent a season on a boat would instantly recognize this for what it is.
for that matter, anybody thats ever cleaned their car, or deck, or pool, or really, gone outside.
i honestly shudder at the thought of the person that called this in
If you really did your
If you really did your "homework" you would know that recreational boats carry very little hydraulic fluid. Some boats have hydraulic steering, trim tabs have a couple of quarts in a them and some transmissions have ATF in them, which is basically hydraulic. This might total a gallon or two. No where near enough to resemble a pollen bloom.
You didn't read the story
The pollen washed off of I93. Ergo, other things spilled there could drain to the water.
In your magic land, there are never oil, hydraulic fluid, or coolant spills from interstate freeways ever? Only boats travel freeways?
Impressive.
Hey Adam
Hate to post off topic, but I figure you'll see it if I post it here, and I won't forget to say it either. The missing comments has happened on this story on both web (Firefox) and iOS (Safari), but resolved when I logged in on those devices.
Oh, rasserfrasser
Thought I'd fixed the problem. Obviously not, sorry! Back to the drawing board.
I'm a dispatcher for a local
I'm a dispatcher for a local fire department and we get calls all the time that turn out to be nothing.
In 23 plus years of dispatching I've received each of these calls several times.
Just off the top of my head.
"Smoke coming from the roof" turns out to be steam from the evaporating dew.
"Smoke coming from the river" is steam from the warm water and cold air.
"I can see a glow from a window three streets away" The sun reflecting off a window.
"There is a big fire somewhere to the East. I see the orange smoke" The setting sun reflecting off a cloud.
"There is a guy in a kayak in trouble. He's trying to paddle up steam in the rapids" This is what people do when they kayak.
Except for the cloud call (I look out the window and figure that on out my own) we send someone to check it out.