Lab tests have confirmed that water throughout the Gulf of Mexico is now very highly toxic.  A couple of "independent journalists" were able to obtain water samples from the Gulf and send them out to a scientific laboratory for testing.  The samples sent in were from along the shore in Louisiana and also from 20 miles out.  The results were absolutely shocking.  The tests found concentrations of propylene glycol at between 360 and 440 parts per million.  Needless to say, that is extremely alarming.  Propylene glycol at just 25 parts per million will kill most fish.  So what in the world is going to happen to fish that encounter this kind of toxic soup?  It is going to be a complete and total nightmare for them.  So where is all of this propylene glycol coming from?  Well, propylene glycol is one of the key ingredients found in the various Corexit brand dispersants that BP has been using in the Gulf of Mexico.  Up to this point, BP has dumped over a million gallons of such dispersants into the Gulf.  So instead of actually saving the environment of the Gulf of Mexico, BP is rapidly poisoning it.  The destruction of sea life is going to be on a scale that is absolutely unimaginable.

A video detailing these lab tests was recently posted on YouTube.... 

The following is the description for the video that was posted on YouTube....

Oil and water samples were taken from both the Shores of Grand Isle and from 20 miles out. The preliminary analysis was done at an academic analytical chemistry laboratory. Looking for the likely pollutants from the deep water Horizon Oil spill. It was focused on the detection of benzene and propylene glycol. Benzene and other highly toxic contaminants were very low however the concentration of propylene glycol was between 360 and 440 parts per million. Just 25 parts per million is know to kill most fish and propylene glycol is just one of many ingredients found in Corexit. In short, the Gulf is being poisoned by BP's usage of the dispersants even after the EPA asked them to stop back in May. We are willing to provide ANY respected/known laboratory these samples or provide them with more. This is very serious to all people and marine life in and around the Gulf.

In an amazing development, all media have been banned from Gulf of Mexico oil spill cleanup sites.  Yes, you read that correctly.  All media have been banned.  In yet another sign of just how far free speech rights in the United States have fallen, "National Incident Commander" Thad Allen has banned all media access to oil clean up sites in or around the Gulf of Mexico.  Instead of devoting all of their energy to trying to save the environment in the Gulf of Mexico, BP and the U.S. government seem absolutely obsessed from keeping people away from seeing what is really going on.  It is now a class B felony that carries a fine of up to $40,000 for any media representative to come within the 65 foot "exclusion zone" that has been established.  That means that all members of the media - print, television, radio and bloggers - are banned from coming within 65 feet of anything important down in the Gulf of Mexico.

The media are being treated like the enemy.  Already there have been many reports of how the media have been harassed and intimidated down in the Gulf of Mexico.  But now BP and the U.S. government have just decided to shut free speech down altogether in the Gulf.  Apparently they are much more comfortable when their inaction and incompetence is not exposed for the entire world to see.

But what harm is the media really doing down there in the Gulf?  Well, other than showing how badly the U.S. government and BP are handling the situation.  The truth is that the American people deserve to know what is going on.  But now the media will not be able to get pictures or video of anything important.

In a recent article, columnist Yobie Benjamin described the dramatic impact that this new order is going to have on media coverage of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill crisis....

In the video posted below, you can really feel Anderson Cooper's outrage as he described what this new order means.  Is this another huge indication that free speech in America is just about dead?....

Instead of being obsessed with trying to save the environment of the Gulf of Mexico, BP seems obsessed with trying to cover their rear ends and with limiting their legal liability.  The truth is that instead of conducting an open, honest and transparent cleanup operation, BP has been intimidating reporters, lying to the public and abusing those who are trying to help.  Not only that, but BP has now even gone so far as to hire professional mercenaries to protect their interests in the Gulf region.  No wonder the American people are rapidly turning against BP.  This has got to be one of the greatest public relations disasters in U.S. history.  Of course it is already the biggest environmental disaster in U.S. history.  Unprecedented numbers of dolphins, sharks, turtles, fish and other sea creatures are showing up just off the Gulf coast in a desperate attempt to get away from the oil spill, but once the oil reaches shore there will be nowhere else for them to go.  The tragedy that will shortly unfold is going to be absolutely unprecedented.

But BP seems much more interested in rescuing their corporate image than in rescuing those sea creatures.  The following are 10 ways that BP is behaving very badly right now....

#1) Over the last several weeks, journalists and reporters attempting to cover the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico have been yelled at, harassed, kicked off public beaches and threatened with arrest by representatives of BP.

#2) The chemical dispersants that BP is using in the Gulf are much more toxic than even the oil is.  In fact, because it is so incredibly toxic, the UK's Marine Management Organization has completely banned Corexit 9500, so if there was a major oil spill in the North Sea, BP would not be able to use it.  But BP sees no problem with dumping over a million gallons of highly toxic dispersants such as Corexit 9500 into the Gulf of Mexico.

#3) The Louisiana Environmental Action Network is reporting that British Petroleum is threatening to fire fishermen hired to help with the oil spill cleanup for using respirators and other safety equipment that was not provided by the company.

#4) BP's treatment of American citizens along the Gulf coast is becoming so brutal that one prominent health expert recently told the media that BP is "running the Gulf region like a prison warden".

#5) BP has now hired private security contractors from a company called "Talon Security" to keep the American people away from the oil cleanup sites.

#6) It is even being alleged that BP has actually tried to manipulate the search results on sites like Google and Yahoo in an attempt to control what we see and hear about the oil spill.

#7) The judge that BP is pushing for to preside over an estimated 200 lawsuits on the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster gets tens of thousands of dollars a year in oil royalties and is paid travel expenses to oil industry conferences.

#8) BP is finally admitting that oil is escaping from the leak at such high pressure that if they try to cap it the entire well may blow.  Why didn't they admit that from the very beginning?

#9) BP has had a dismissive tone towards the public from the very beginning.  Carl-Henric Svanberg, the BP chairman, has finally apologized for referring to those affected by the Gulf of Mexico oil spill as "small people".

#10) Eight days ago, Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal ordered barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. But today, against the governor's wishes, the Coast Guard has ordered those barges to sit idle, even as more oil flows toward the Louisiana shore.  All along the Gulf Coast anyone who tries to clean up oil without being under BP's supervision is being shut down and turned away.

More than a month after it began, oil continues to gush rapidly into the Gulf of Mexico from a damaged BP oil well.  The environmental damage from this oil spill is going to be absolutely unprecedented in U.S. history.  In fact, it is now becoming apparent that the region surrounding the Gulf of Mexico may not recover from this environmental horror in our lifetimes.  Yes, that is how bad it really is.  The facts about this oil spill that you are about to read below are absolutely going to stun you.  But the links are all there so you can go check out the information for yourself.  As Americans, we like to talk a good game about how we want to save the environment, but the truth is that we are doing more to harm the environment than anyone else.  It is time to take responsibility for our actions, because the earth is going to become one gigantic trash heap if we are not careful.

The following are 10 shocking facts about the unprecedented environmental horror in the Gulf of Mexico that you may not know....   

#1) Prominent oceanographers are accusing the Obama administration of failing to conduct an adequate scientific analysis of the damage from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill and of allowing BP to purposely deceive the public about the spill's true scope.

#2) A large number of fishermen are becoming seriously ill - and many of them believe that the chemicals that BP is using in the Gulf are to blame.

#3) Oil from the spill has already managed to seep past blockades into areas with vulnerable wildlife, such as the Pass-a-Loutre Wildlife Management Area at the mouth of the Mississippi river.

#4) Scientists now say that the first oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has entered an ocean current that could take it over to Florida and up the east coast of the United States.

#5) One oil industry expert says that oil could pour into the Gulf of Mexico for up to 9000 days if the leak is not plugged.

#6) Local shrimpers in Louisiana are already predicting that it will be seven years before they can set to sea again.

#7) Louisiana's governor recently made this dramatic statement about the oil spill in the Gulf: "The day that we’ve been fearing is upon us."

#8) There are unconfirmed reports that black rain is now falling in southwest Florida.

#9) Despite the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. government is under pressure to issue new permits for offshore drilling as early as next week.

#10) Not only that, but gambling websites are now placing odds on what species will be first to become extinct as a result of the oil belching from BP's ruptured well in the Gulf of Mexico.

If something is not not urgently to save the environment along the coasts of the Gulf of Mexico, we are going to be facing an environmental disaster that is unprecedented in American history.  The destruction of wildlife and habitats by this gigantic oil slick is going to be absolutely massive.  The sad truth is that the Gulf coast will never be the same after this.  In the video posted below, you will see that dead fish are already starting to come ashore in Louisiana, and as the oil spill continues to grow and spread the damage is going to get far, far, far worse.

To get an idea of just how horrific the damage is going to be from the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, just check out the following quotes....

Richard Charter of the Defenders of Wildlife:

"It is so big and expanding so fast that it's pretty much beyond human response that can be effective. ... You're looking at a long-term poisoning of the area. Ultimately, this will have a multidecade impact."

Florida Governor Charlie Crist:

"Florida is currently preparing for what we all know is an environmental disaster of unprecedented proportions for our state and Gulf of Mexico partner states."

Public Service Commissioner Benjamin Stevens:

"You get hit by a hurricane and you can rebuild. But when that stuff washes up on the white sands of Pensacola Beach, you can't just go and get more white sand.''

Hotel Owner Dodie Vegas:

"It's just going to kill us. It's going to destroy us."

Louis Miller of the Mississippi Sierra Club:

"This is going to destroy the Mississippi and the Gulf Coast as we know it."

Are you starting to get the picture?

This is going to be a complete and total environmental nightmare.

Something has got to be done to save the environment along the Gulf coast for future generations.

The following video should be sobering for all of us.  It shows the dead fish that are already starting to come ashore on Louisiana beaches as a result of this terrible oil spill.  Please send this video out to everyone that you know.  We must wake people up while there is still time....