Oil spill: Local volunteers needed for boom deployment

[The Straight Story]

Oil spill: Local volunteers needed for boom deployment


Pinellas County, Florida - The oil slick is still far away from Tampa Bay and local experts say that's the best time to prepare.

"Now is the time for us to go out and practice, because when the real thing happens, you know it's going to be in the middle of the night in some really bad weather," says Peter Clark of Tampa Bay Watch.

Tampa Bay Watch is looking for volunteers to train this week on how to protect Cockroach Bay, an aquatic preserve in Hillsborough County. The mangrove islands there are home to birds and the seagrass beds are an important nursery for a variety of fish including mullet.

"It's an extremely productive ecosystem on the shores of Tampa Bay," says Clark. "Hillsborough County has designated it as the first area that needs to be protected."

Like workers have already done in other states, volunteers here will receive both classroom and hands-on instruction on how to deploy boom. It's thought the thousands of feet of boom strung between barrier islands will protect the sensitive areas closer to shore.

http://www.wtsp.com/news/topstories/story.aspx?storyid=131757&catid=250

[jpak]

1. BP should PAY these people

they should send BP the bill

[liberal N proud]

2. If I were there or traveling there, I would volunteer