Huge spill leaves thousands of gallons of oil in waters hit by Hurricane Idalia
A huge spill has left thousands of gallons of oil in waters hit by Hurricane Idalia.
Officials in Florida are trying to determine who is the "responsible party" for a massive crude oil spill that left thousands of gallons of oil and water mixture in an area still dealing with the negative impacts of Hurricane Idalia.
According to the United States Seventh Coast Guard District, crews had removed 3,000 gallons of the oil and water mixture from the Friday afternoon spill in Port Manatee on Saturday. They were still continuing their efforts into Sunday, the agency said on their X - formerly Twitter - page.
"The source and responsible party are under investigation," the USCG Southeast said in a statement Sunday on the social media platform.
"The source and responsible party are under investigation," the USCG Southeast said in a statement Sunday. Crews meet to discuss cleanup (Seventh Coast Guard District)The post comes as the agency has been sharing updates of the clean-up efforts for the massive crude oil spill that was first reported on Friday.
Woman swims through flooded Florida street as Hurricane Idalia causes chaos
On Saturday, the agency shared that "about 4,500 gals of oil/water mixture was removed from overnight efforts," adding that there did not appear to be any new oil on the scene as of Saturday morning.
Initially, USCG Southeast received a National Response Center report about the oil spill and rushed to the scene. They used approximately 1400 ft of boom in efforts to contain the initial spill.
Crews had removed 3,000 gallons of the oil and water mixture from the spill in Port Manatee on Saturday (Seventh Coast Guard District)
The agency shared that 'about 4,500 gals of oil/water mixture was removed from overnight efforts' (Seventh Coast Guard District)Photos from the scene show black muck and debris consuming the port as crews can be seen rushing to best tackle the disastrous mess. Tubing in the water appears to be blocking off part of the oil from getting to other areas.
While it is currently unknown how much crude oil made its way into the waters, authorities have already retrieved around 7,500 gallons of oil/water mixture
Port Manatee sits in the northern part of Manatee County, an area still reeling from the impacts of Hurricane Idalia. Over the weekend, the Florida Department of Health of Manatee County issued a swim advisory for residents in an effort to stop them from going to beaches due to potential effects on water quality.
Tubing in the water appears to be blocking off part of the oil from getting to other areas (Seventh Coast Guard District)Residents were told to avoid contact with floodwaters that came from overflowing rivers, lakes or oceans as they may contain feacal matter from sewage systems and septic tanks, WFLA reports. Agricultural and industrial waste, debris, downed power lines and other hazards have been listed as being in the waters as well.
Officials are conducting tests on to determine water quality at beaches, but those are expected to resume on September 5 as it is the Labor Day holiday weekend in the United States.
Beachgoers should assume that the water may pose an increased risk of disease or illness, however, and steer clear of the waters over the long weekend.
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