no, you're not imagining the smell

NEW ORLEANS — The Environmental Protection Agency says the air in some places along the Louisiana coast poses a health risk to vulnerable people.

The EPA says recent air sampling shows a moderate health risk in Venice and Grand Isle, two Louisiana towns about 50 miles from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill site.

The agency says anyone unusually sensitive to low-quality air should avoid "prolonged or heavy exertion."

EPA's warning comes as concerns grow that the Gulf oil spill may be fouling not just the water and shores but also the air.

The agency says the levels of chemicals found in air samples have not been linked directly to the BP spill. But odor-causing pollutants associated with oil have been detected.

Those are just the carcinogens you're smelling. Methane is totally odorless, and 40% of the material leaking from the rip in the crust.

Meanwhile, the One is sending in Colonel Blimp's Navy to help.

...BP said in a letter to the federal government's spill recovery coordinator Friday that it would commence work on a new containment cap because there was a good weather window even though it means more oil will flow into the Gulf temporarily.

The letter came in response to Ret. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen's demands that BP outline its plans. BP projected it could finish the new-cap operation in five days if it doesn't encounter any unexpected hurdles. Its contingency plan puts the finish time as nine days from commencement of the work. If all goes well, the new system could stop the flow of oil into the Gulf, which has despoiled the fragile coast, rendering some fishing area off limits and soaking untold numbers of sealife in toxic crude.

However, removal of the cap in place now before another collection vessel is brought into full operation would mean significantly more oil would gush into the Gulf as work on the new containment system progresses...

Details, details. This will surely work better than the last cap, which even after the oil it captured increased the flow rate about three-fold. They're optimistic and full of Hope®.