black mayonnaise, noun, toxic sludge found at the bottom of harbors, bays, and oceans, often extending for miles, consisting of undecayed sediment, sewage and petrochemical wastes. Word watchers at The Atlantic traced the term back as far as 1978. In the August 1, 1988 issue of Newsweek it appeared in the following context: "What is happening underwater... is not for the squeamish. Scuba divers talk of swimming through clouds of toilet paper and half disolved feces, of bay bottoms covered by a... sediment... appropriately known as black mayonnaise.
|
|
Size of Exxon Valdez oil spill:
11 million gallons
Size of Persian Gulf oil spill:
64 million gallons
Size of leakage from Chevron's El Segundo, Calif., storage tanks:
200 million gallons
Number of commercial storage tanks in the U.S.:
2 million
Number of leaking commercial storage tanks in the U.S.:
300,000 to 500,000
|