Gulf Oil Spill

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Thank you for your interest in helping our community respond to the oil disaster. As you know, oil from the Deepwater Horizon tragedy is still leaking into the Gulf of Mexico. While we are at no immediate risk of tar balls or an oil slick arriving on the shores of Sarasota County, we are continuing preparations to respond to oil product and injured wildlife if the time comes.

The U.S. Coast Guard is flying daily from our coast and should the oil reach within 90 miles of our shores, volunteers will be called upon to help clean the beach of debris BEFORE the oil arrives. A clean beach is easier to clean. However, we do not want to disrupt our beach habitat before then so please leave natural materials in place unless called upon to volunteer. Always feel free to properly dispose of trash.

If oil begins to appear on our beaches, volunteers will be asked to monitor an area of beach. Volunteers will not be cleaning up oil or handling wildlife. They will be present to let other beachgoers know that the trained oil response teams have been notified and are on the way.

Volunteers will not be handling oil unless specifically called upon by the county. Please let us know if you have specific hazmat training. Please forward this message to anyone that you think would like to be a part of this effort.