BILOXI, Miss. – Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) staff through aerial surveillance with the Mississippi National Guard, MDEQ response staff, and Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams (SCAT) have observed the following Sunday (as of 6:00 p.m.) and sent to Unified Command for review and appropriate response:
Flight information:
· Aerial recon reported the following:
· Degraded boom located at N30 14.02, W89 23.13
· Free floating orange boom at N30 20.79, W89 08.40
· Displaced boom in Bayou Caddy.
Other Information from MDEQ staff:
· Jackson County–minimal to no tar balls seen on the beaches. Cleanup crews were present along the beaches.
· Hancock County–sporadic tar balls with less than one percent coverage. Cleanup crews were present along the beaches.
· Harrison County–sporadic tar balls with less than one percent coverage in the Upper Inter-Tidal Zone. These were located between N30 21.420, W89 06.789 and N30 21.298, W89 07.271.
· MDEQ informed of oil located near Henderson Point. Upon investigation, concrete debris with oiling was seen. The oiling was approximately 20 percent coverage over the one foot by 300 feet area. This was located between N30 18.588, W89 17.560 and N30 18.548, W89 17.622.
· SCAT team performed beach assessment along the southwestern shore of Cat Island. During flyover inspections performed prior to landing, four sections of the shoreline exhibited oiled vegetation. The coordinates: a) N 30 13.864, W89 06.125; b) N30 13.855, W89 05.594; c) N30 13.602, W89 08.056; d) N30 12.778, W89 06.325. On the southwestern shore of Cat Island, the team noticed on average a two meter band along the middle to upper inter-tidal zone with trace amounts of oil coverage in the form of sandy mousse patties. In the water, just below the surface, a one to two meter band of 10 percent oil coverage in the form of weathered mousse patties. Also, a few pieces of oiled debris were noticed along this section of the island.
· SCAT team performed beach assessment along the shoreline from the Hard Rock Casino to the west side of Keesler AFB in Biloxi and Deer Island. The team noted minimal tar balls and oiling.
Beach Advisories:
· The beach advisories in Harrison County, Hancock County, and Jackson County remain in effect. They are listed at: http://www.usm.edu/gcrl/msbeach/index.cgi.
· Under an advisory, the beaches are open to use; however, MDEQ and the Beach Monitoring Task Force recommend that people avoid contact with oil-related materials such as tar balls and tar mats and stay out of the water if these materials are visible.
Source: MDEQ