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Toxic waste dumped decades ago has drastically altered life on SoCal's sea floor, study finds
A barrel that possibly contained caustic alkaline waste rests on the ocean floor off the coast of Santa Catalina Island. Note the mysterious halo.
(
David Valentine
/
UC Santa Barbara
)
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Waste dumped off SoCal coast has drastically altered life on the sea floor, study finds
The waste was likely dumped alongside barrels of DDT discovered in recent years. Its chemical makeup has changed the types of organisms that live on the ocean bottom.
Between the 1930s and 1970s, companies dumped barrels of toxic waste, including DDT, off the coast of Southern California, from Santa Cruz Island south to Mexico.
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Listen: Researchers find lingering affects of waste dumped from the 1930s through 1970s.
The revelations came to light several years ago , and since then researchers have been investigating the various sites using remotely operated vehicles thousands of feet beneath the surface.
There have long been questions about a specific subset of barrels that looked like they were surrounded by concrete and white halos. On Tuesday, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography published a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences with a potential explanation.
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They believe that the barrels contained caustic waste so alkaline that it changed the chemistry and the microbial makeup of the organisms on the seafloor. What that waste is remains a mystery.
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Samples taken from around the barrels showed pH levels as high as 12 (normal is 7 to 8) and were dominated by alkalophilic bacteria adapted to high-pH environments, like those around hydrothermal vents. Colonies of bacteria farther from the barrels were far more diverse and consistent with what’s been found in other parts of the area.
“ We've created these naturally occurring extremophile environments in these little patches in the ocean wherever these barrels landed that had the caustic waste,” said Paul Jensen, professor of microbiology at Scripps and co-author of the study.
Dumping occurred off the coast of Southern California from Santa Cruz Island to Mexico.
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Environmental Protection Agency
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When researchers tested pieces of the concrete-looking stuff, they discovered it was brucite, or magnesium hydroxide, and that the white halos are calcium carbonate, both of which form in high-pH environments.
They estimate it could take thousands of years for these changes to resolve.
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But the game has changed: Congress voted to eliminate funding for public media across the country. Here at LAist that means a loss of $1.7 million in our budget every year. We want to assure you that despite growing threats to free press and free speech, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust. Speaking frankly, the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news in our community.
We’re asking you to stand up for independent reporting that will not be silenced. With more individuals like you supporting this public service, we can continue to provide essential coverage for Southern Californians that you can’t find anywhere else. Become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission.
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