Apalachicola OSPREY Program
VID00021SugarHillsedsamplingSGIParkBeach
ALL VIDEOS IN THIS SET WERE TAKEN ON JULY 30th, 2011. Historically, St. George Island, particularly the "Sugar Hill" area in the State Park on it's eastern end, is reknowned for the "sugary" white color of its sand dunes and beaches. It is yet unclear as to what affect the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill may have had on these beaches long term. According to the Unified Commands OSAT report in 12/10:
"Observations from qualitative programs in the nearshore sampling zone indicate tar mats in sub‐tidal nearshore areas are another area of concern. The sediment‐bound oil within these subsurface tar mats could potentially be remobilized leading to the re‐oiling of adjacent or near‐by shorelines. The sub‐surface sampling plans did not entirely address this region due to difficulties with sampling in shallow water. Current efforts to address this issue within the UAC include continued monitoring by shoreline clean up and assessment teams (SCAT) and the formation of a specialized group at the UAC (OSAT II) to evaluate existing data and make recommendations for any additional sampling."
OSPREY volunteers also monitored two identically appearing vessels engaged in sampling activities off CARRABELLE PUBLIC BEACH at about the same time this video was taken on July 30th. Both of these locations are areas where volunteers have photographed, and in one case, verified, the presence of petroleum product in May of 2011, and November of 2010, respectively. We have not been able to definitively ascertain what entities may have been involved in the sediment sampling efforts documented in these videos, but the vessels were privately marked and registered, without any government agency identifiers. The crews did not wear uniforms, and they told one OSPREY volunteer that they were "contractors from Alabama". Additionally, research staff interviewed from the local Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve were not aware of any sediment sampling being carried out on the Bay or beaches, and the local city officials were uninformed as well. OSPREY will investigate further, and report.
VID00021SugarHillsedsamplingSGIParkBeach
ALL VIDEOS IN THIS SET WERE TAKEN ON JULY 30th, 2011. Historically, St. George Island, particularly the "Sugar Hill" area in the State Park on it's eastern end, is reknowned for the "sugary" white color of its sand dunes and beaches. It is yet unclear as to what affect the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill may have had on these beaches long term. According to the Unified Commands OSAT report in 12/10:
"Observations from qualitative programs in the nearshore sampling zone indicate tar mats in sub‐tidal nearshore areas are another area of concern. The sediment‐bound oil within these subsurface tar mats could potentially be remobilized leading to the re‐oiling of adjacent or near‐by shorelines. The sub‐surface sampling plans did not entirely address this region due to difficulties with sampling in shallow water. Current efforts to address this issue within the UAC include continued monitoring by shoreline clean up and assessment teams (SCAT) and the formation of a specialized group at the UAC (OSAT II) to evaluate existing data and make recommendations for any additional sampling."
OSPREY volunteers also monitored two identically appearing vessels engaged in sampling activities off CARRABELLE PUBLIC BEACH at about the same time this video was taken on July 30th. Both of these locations are areas where volunteers have photographed, and in one case, verified, the presence of petroleum product in May of 2011, and November of 2010, respectively. We have not been able to definitively ascertain what entities may have been involved in the sediment sampling efforts documented in these videos, but the vessels were privately marked and registered, without any government agency identifiers. The crews did not wear uniforms, and they told one OSPREY volunteer that they were "contractors from Alabama". Additionally, research staff interviewed from the local Apalachicola National Estuarine Research Reserve were not aware of any sediment sampling being carried out on the Bay or beaches, and the local city officials were uninformed as well. OSPREY will investigate further, and report.