Coast Guard pollution investigators from Sector Key West are currently responding to reports of an oily substance and tar balls near Duck Key, Fla., Long Key, Fla., and Grassy Key, Fla. …
Coast Guard Sector Key West received multiple notifications from the National Response Center Tuesday of an oily substance and tar balls approximately four nautical miles south of Long Key, Fla.
A Coast Guard HU-25 Guardian aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Miami conducted an aerial search and confirmed the presence of sheening in the vicinity of Duck Key, Fla., and deployed a self-locating data marker bouy (SLDMB) to determine the set and drift of the substance. Coast Guard Station Marathon launched a smallboat crew to collect samples of the substance and monitor the situation.
Analysis of the SLDMB on Wednesday morning indicated a potential for the sheen to land on Grassy Key Wednesday evening.
The Coast Guard is coordinating with the Dolphin Research Center on Grassy Key and Hawk’s Cay Resort in Duck Key to develop and deploy protective booming strategies as a protective measure to protect the dolphins at the Dolphin Research Center and those at the Florida Keys Dolphin Interaction feature at Hawk’s Key Resort.
Shoreline assessment teams from the Coast Guard and contracted shoreline cleanup crews were deployed to the shorelines of Long Key, Grassy Key, and Duck Key to confirm the presence of tar balls. The team recovered tar balls and identified one oiled vessel in a canal in Duck Key. No tar balls were found in Grassy Key or Long Key. Shoreline assessment teams continue to monitor the shorelines for more possible tar balls. If detected, contracted crews will conduct cleanup operations. …
The Coast Guard, working with NOAA’s National Marine Sanctuaries, Department of the Interior, and Monroe County Department of Emergency Management, has responded to 37 reports of tar balls in the Florida Keys and has sent representative samples of tar balls found in each location to the Marine Safety Laboratory for testing. None of those samples have been connected with the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill.
Capt. Pat DeQuattro, commanding officer of Sector Key West, has authorized the use of the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund to commence cleanups of any pollution.
http://www.wtsp.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=133432&catid=19
Key West Keynoter:
U.S. Coast Guard pollution investigators from Sector Key West were responding Thursday to reports of an “oily substance and tar balls” near Duck Key, Long Key and Grassy Key, according to the Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center, the federal government’s official clearinghouse for oil-spill information. …
A crew from Station Marathon “recovered tar balls and identified one oiled vessel in a canal on Duck Key.” That crew is collecting samples of the sheen.
A Coast Guard HU-25 Guardian aircraft from Air Station Miami conducted an aerial search and confirmed the “presence of sheening in the vicinity of Duck Key and deployed a self-locating data marker bouy (SLDMB) to determine the set and drift of the substance.”
http://www.keysnet.com/2010/06/03/225550/oily-substance-tar-balls-found.html
Palm Beach Post:
Numerous reports of oil and tar balls in the southern Florida Keys and a confirmed siting of sheen by the U.S. Coast Guard prompted officials at the Dolphin Research Center in Grassy Key and Hawk’s Cay Resort in Duck Key to lay protective booming around their caged dolphin habitat. …
The Coast Guard station in Key West received reports of an oily substance and tar balls approximately four nautical miles south of Long Key. A Coast Guard HU-25 Guardian aircraft from Coast Guard Air Station Miami conducted an aerial search and confirmed the presence of sheening in the vicinity of Duck Key. A buoy deployed to track the spill indicated the sheen could land on Grassy Key at any time.
About 600 feet of boom was deployed at the Dolphin Research Center this morning, said Mary Stella, the marketing director at the center in Grassy Key, about 59 miles north of Key West. Hawk’s Cay Resort, at mile marker 61 in Duck Key, did not return a phone call about their dolphins.
“No tar balls or sheen have been spotted on the Gulf side where we are,” Stella said. “This is strictly an extra precaution.
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