Chemicals at Alabama Beaches Found at Safe Levels

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (AP) — Officials in Orange Beach hope that a new report from will help allay fears that chemicals from oil spill dispersant have polluted local waters.
An engineering team from Auburn University analyzed data from water samples collected after last year's spill and concluded that traces of chemicals found in the dispersant Corexit are present in concentrations below accepted levels.
In a draft report presented to Orange Beach, Joel Hayworth and Prabahkar Clement say it's highly unlikely that the chemicals originated from dispersant used during the response to the BP spill. They say the same chemicals are available in many household products and it's likely they entered the area from stormwater runoff.
The city hired the Auburn professors to perform tests on Orange Beach sands.