Subject: Info: oil spill (fwd)
Michael Williamson (pita@whale.simmons.edu)
Thu, 23 May 1996 10:59:31 -0400 (EDT)
---------- Forwarded message ----------
Date: Tue, 21 May 1996 09:59:26 EST
From: Dagmar_Fertl@smtp.mms.gov
To: Multiple recipients of list MARMAM <MARMAM@UVVM.BITNET>
Subject: oil spill
Any info on cetaceans being affected by this spill? In particular, is
there concern for bottlenose dolphins that were affected a few years
ago by the die-off.
Dagmar_Fertl@smtp.mms.gov
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New Jersey beaches fouled with spreading slick
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J., May 20 (Reuter) - An oil spill four times
bigger than originally estimated has fouled 40 miles of beaches along
New Jersey's southern shore with tar, state officials said Monday.
The slick was being carried northward by tides and winds and
hundreds of workers, some using heavy machinery, were trying to clean
the beaches in time for the Memorial Day weekend, start of the
multi-billion dollar tourist season.
Most of the beaches were open for crowds seeking relief from
record-breaking heat but some were closed until they could be cleaned.
The spill occurred in Delaware Bay May 9 when a valve failed
during a cargo transfer to barges. The Coast Guard said Sunday it was
42,000 gallons, four times the original estimate. It had reached
Atlantic City beaches by Monday morning, said Loretta O'Donnell, a
spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection.
O'Donnell said booms had been installed at the mouths of Absecon
and Brigantine inlets to protect important waterfowl habitat. The
biggest concern was the fate of an endangered species, the piping
plover.