Babylon residents struggle to explain mysterious dark residue in beloved canal
BABYLON, N.Y. -- A strange phenomenon has surfaced in a Suffolk County canal. A mysterious dark residue is in the water.
Residents are concerned, but there have been few answers.
The backyard canal in Babylon is seemingly made for a holiday weekend, whether it be taking out the boat or relaxing by the water's edge. But this year, village families say something has not been right.
Patricia Hults has lived there since 1972.
"I've never seen anything like this before. It's just weird. It just looks weird," Hults said,.
Along South Bay Drive, the water, which is usually clear, looks blackened with a mysterious film.
"The people who have boats, they're actually afraid of starting the boats up because if it's a chemical, it won't start the boat up," Hults said.
And it smells. Some neighbors told CBS New York the odor is so foul, they're too embarrassed to host guests and are canceling their July 4 barbecues.
When asked how she would describe the smell, Hults said, "We actually cannot describe it. It doesn't smell like oil. It doesn't smell like gas."
Whatever it is, locals say they are worried about the impact, not only on their shallow manmade waterway, but also on the majestic Great South Bay it connects to.
"The ducks have dark black on them, a tar-ish material," neighbor Eric Schwarz said. "What's gonna happen if it lingers and stays here? If it gets worse during the summer, when it gets hot out? Then, what do you do?"
The Suffolk County Office of Wastewater Management came to collect samples for testing. For now, officials are ruling out sewage or a petroleum spill.
Instead, they suspect the cause is biological and plan to share results within a few days.
In addition to the samples, the Heath Department took an oxygen reading, which it said came out to zero. That's not a good sign for aquatic life. No oxygen could mean die-offs of fish, plants, and more.
Avoiding the canal they cherish, neighbors are waiting to find out what their summer holds.
"You know, we don't want to get anybody in trouble," Hults said. "We just want to find out what it is, and is it safe."
