Key West Citizen - Tuesday, May 18, 2010 @ 07:50 AM
Coast Guard pollution investigators from Sector Key West have responded to a report of 20 tar balls found on the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West, according to a statement released this morning.
Some 5 million gallons of crude has spewed into the Gulf and tar balls have been washing ashore in several states along the coast. Scientists are worried that oil is getting caught in a major ocean current that could carry it through the Florida Keys and up the East Coast.
The Coast Guard said it received notification from the Florida Park Service around 5:15 p.m. Monday of 20 tar balls ranging from three to eight inches in diameter.
Park rangers conducted a shoreline survey of Fort Zachary Taylor and the adjacent Navy beach at Truman Annex and reportedly recovered the tar balls at a rate of nearly three tar balls an hour throughout the day, with the heaviest concentration found at high tide, around 12:30 p.m.
A subsequent shoreline survey of the area revealed no additional tar balls.
Samples of the tar balls were will be shipped to a laboratory for analysis to determine the origin of the source, the Guard said.
The Coast Guard and Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary plan to conduct shoreline surveys beginning this morning. An aerial search by a trained pollution investigator will also be conducted this morning, the Guard said.
The public is asked to report the sighting of any tar balls to the Coast Guard at 1-800-424-8802. Any oiled shorelines can be reported to 1-866-448-5816.
The public is reminded that tarballs are considered hazardous materials and should only be retrieved by trained personnel, the Guard said.
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Following additional reports of tar balls making their way to Florida Keys beaches, state Rep. Ron Saunders has asked Gov. Charlie Crist to place Monroe County on the list of Florida counties designated as "emergency areas."
“Tar balls are already washing up on beaches in Key West and it appears that oil may have entered the Loop Current that may drastically affect the ecology and economy of the Florida Keys,” Saunders said in a prepared statement released this afternoon. “As a designated emergency area, Monroe County will be able to apply for badly needed disaster recovery funds as many of our businesses have already been affected by the spill.”
The Coast Guard has received several unconfirmed reports Tuesday from "reliable sources" of tar balls on Big Pine Key and Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas, said Coast Guard spokeswoman Lt. j.g. Anna Dixon.
Twenty-three tar balls, or lumps of “oil residue,” were found Tuesday morning on Loggerhead Key in the Dry Tortugas, said National Park Service spokesman Larry Perez. The tar balls range in size from a quarter-inch to 2 inches.
Late Monday, Coast Guard pollution investigators confirmed a report of 20 tar balls found on the beach at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park in Key West. The tar balls ranged from 3 to 8 inches in diameter.
Park rangers at Fort Zachary Taylor conducted a shoreline survey Monday of the park and the adjacent Navy beach at Truman Annex, Dixon said. They reportedly recovered the tar balls at a rate of nearly three per hour throughout the day, with the heaviest concentration found at high tide, around 12:30 p.m.
Samples of the tar balls are being shipped to a laboratory for analysis to determine the origin of the source, Dixon said.
Coast Guard crews are inspecting Keys beaches and have dispatched a helicopter to look for additional signs of petroleum subtances, Dixon said Tuesday morning.
Some 5 million gallons of crude oil has spewed into the Gulf and tar balls have been washing ashore in several states along the coast.
The public is asked to report the sighting of any tar balls to the Coast Guard at 1-800-424-8802. Any oiled shorelines can be reported to 1-866-448-5816.
Tar balls that washed ashore in Key West, the Dry Tortugas and other areas of the Florida Keys are not tied to the Deepwater Horizon spill, a Monroe County emergency management official said Wednesday morning.
Samples from the tar balls were flown yesterday to an out-of-state lab, where it was confirmed they were not related to the oil spill off Louisiana, county Emergency Management Director Irene Toner said.
Officials are still unsure where the tar balls came from, Toner said.
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