Oil Advisories Issued for 2 Beach Locations

BILOXI, Miss. – Beach advisories have been issued for two locations in Jackson and Harrison counties.

The state Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Marine Resources and Department of Health issued the advisories on Monday.

These areas were observed to have significant amounts of tar balls, tar mats, mousse, or sheen on Sunday, June 27. MDEQ and the Beach Monitoring Task Force recommend that people avoid contact with oil-related materials and to stay out of the water if these materials are visible.

These beaches are not closed and beach goers may continue to use these beaches, but the agencies advise people to be aware of their surroundings while recreating.

The advisories are issued for:

Jackson County: The area from Main Street in the Belle Fontaine area west to Seashore Avenue. This encompasses existing beach monitoring sites 17 and 15A.

Harrison County: This advisory extends from Miramar Avenue west to Veterans Avenue. This area includes beach monitoring site 12A.

Information and maps of these beach monitoring locations are available at http://www.usm.edu/gcrl/msbeach/index.cgi. MDEQ and the Beach Monitoring Task Force will continue to advise the public when oil-related materials are found. The nature of this oil spill is such that patches of these type materials could show up in other areas in the near future.

The Mississippi State Department of Health has provided these tips for people who come in contact with oil materials:

• Avoid direct skin contact with the oil.
• If you get oil on your skin, wash it off with soap and water.
• Wash your hands before eating to avoid accidentally swallowing oil.
• If you get oil on clothing, wash it in the usual way.
• Prolonged exposure to the oil may cause some to have a skin rash.
• There is no need to use harsh detergents, solvents or other chemicals to wash oil from your skin or clothing, and their use is discouraged.

More information and links about MDEQ’s and DMR’s roles in oil spill response are available at www.deq.state.ms.us and www.dmr.ms.gov.

New Skimmers in Mississippi Waters by July 5

BILOXI – Mississippi will have its own skimmers beginning to operate in state waters by July 5, the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality announced Saturday.

Belt skimmers will be built by Trinity Yachts in Gulfport and Overing Yacht Designs in Ocean Springs. Gov. Haley Barbour directed the construction of these vessels and for the costs to be paid by BP. In addition, state officials continue to locate additional skimmers for immediate use inMississippi waters.

Overing Yacht Designs, a Mississippi company, will build from the keel up ten 40 foot belt skimmers and four 30 foot belt skimmers in Amelia, La. Trinity Yachts will build nine 30 foot belt skimmers. The first one is scheduled to be available July 5 with all boats finished by Aug 1.

Local boat captains are being interviewed to be hired, and they will be trained to operate the skimming system. The state will maintain control of the vessels, and they will be operated under the authority of MDEQ.

“Belt skimmers are the best technology available, and they are able to deal with all types and consistencies of oil. In addition, the design of the boats will allow them to be used in deeper waters south of the barrier islands all the way to the shallow areas of the bays if necessary. We are looking for these vessels to be piloted by Mississippians who know our waters best,” said Trudy Fisher, MDEQ executive director.

More information and links about MDEQ’s and DMR’s roles in oil spill response are available at www.deq.state.ms.us and www.dmr.ms.gov.

Pascagoula, Blood Center Plan Drive

PASCAGOULA – City officials has partnered with The Blood Center to host a blood drive Tuesday, June 29, from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Grand Magnolia Suites Ballroom, located at the corner of Magnolia Street and Live Oak Avenue.

“Most of us know someone who has needed blood and it is the highest form of giving to take part in a blood drive,” said Bruce Knott, Pascagoula’s director of human resources. “We’ve set a goal of 75 units and are asking everyone planning to participate to extend an invitation to a friend or family member as well.”

As a thank you, The Blood Center will give each donor a free t-shirt, a cholesterol check and a coupon for a free oil change with Delta World Tires. Donors will also receive unlimited blood coverage for up to three family members for one year beginning 15 days from the date of the donation.

Donors are asked to bring a photo ID, and are encouraged to drink 16 ounces of water and eat a light meal prior to donating even if you don’t normally eat three meals per day. Light snacks and drinks will be available if needed.

The donation process takes approximately 50 minutes with actual donation time ranging from 5 to 10 minutes. Potential donors will be asked a series of questions to determine their eligibility to participate.

“The time involved in giving blood is really nominal when you consider the impact your donation has on the lives of your neighbors when they need it the most,” added Knott. “If we raise 125 units of blood our employees will have a little fun watching both the city’s program manager and operations manager take a pie in the face at our Employee Appreciation Luncheon in July.”

The Blood Center is the sole provider of blood for Singing River Hospital, Ocean Springs Hospital and the Biloxi VA Hospital. For more information about making a blood donation next Tuesday, call The Blood Center at 1-800-86-BLOOD or go to www.thebloodcenter.org.

Audubon, River Cruise at Sunset

By popular demand, the Pascagoula River Audubon Center will be having another Sunset River Cruise on Friday, July 2, 2010. The first cruise filled up so fast, another had to be scheduled. Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to enjoy the river as the sun goes down. There is no telling what will happen out on the Pascagoula in the twilight hours. Be sure to call the Pascagoula River Audubon Center @ 228.475.0825 to reserve a seat on the boat. Don’t miss it this time around. The boat leaves the Audubon Center at 6 pm.

Can you identify this location and its city?

Audubon Center Plans Birding Class for Kids

The Pascagoula River Audubon Center has scheduled its summer Kids Birding Class for three weekends in July. The class is designed to introduce young kids to the wonderful world of birding.

The target age is 10 to 14 years of age, but enthusiastic youngsters and older teenagers may attend. Adult supervision for younger kids is required and a special interest in birds preferred.

The three-hour classes are set for 9 a.m. until noon July 10, 17 and 24.

Participants will learn basic bird identification skills and get hands on experience identifying birds in the field. Students will also learn valuable information on feeding and attracting birds to backyards.

Students will receive a “young birders” field guide of Eastern North America and take a trip on the Pascagoula River.

Cost of the course is $50. Class size is limited to 12 students.

To register, call the Pascagoula River Audubon Center at 228-475-0825 or email Mozart Dedeaux at mdedeaux@audubon.orghttp://pascagoulariver.audubon.org/

The Pascagoula River Audubon Center is located on Griffin Road in the Escatawpa community.

Sunset River Cruise

June 18th

Travel the bayous and swamps of the Pascagoula River by moonlight with McCoy's swamp and river tours. See what happens as the sun goes down in the misty brown waters of the last free flowing river in the upper 48 states. This tour is an event that has to be experienced at least once in your life time. The boat leaves from the Pascagoula River Audubon Center at 6:00 p.m and returns around 8:00 p.m. There is limited seating on the boat so reservations are required. Please call228.475-0825 to reserve a seat.

$25 per person.

Ford Avenue Temporarily Closed

PASCAGOULA – Road crews have temporarily closed the small

bridge on the west end of Ford Avenue for repairs.  

Crews are improving the bridge’s approaches and reworking asphalt. 

Due to the nature of this project, 

city crews are working in the early evening to take advantage of the low tide. 

The repairs are expected to take around two weeks to complete.  Drivers can detour around this construction site using Roosevelt Street to the  east or Little St. to the west of the bridge.  All drivers are asked to use caution around this construction site.  Pay special  attention to traffic signs, road workers, uneven pavement, and heavy equipment  near the side of the road. 

Beach Surveys Needed -- Immediately

As you may be aware, Audubon has been working to identify opportunities for volunteers to assist with wildlife relative issues associate with the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.

We have been working with the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Services to identify these, and are carefully planning a few such opportunities that will be launched in the next week or so through our new Audubon Volunteer Response Center in Moss Point.

However, we have received a request from the U.S. Coast Guard Incident Command Center in Mobile for assistance in conducting daily assessments of the condition of our beaches.

This request DOES NOT, to our knowledge, reflect any immediate expectation of oil products hitting the shoreline. Rather, it is an effort to take a snapshot of conditions over the next few days.

The request from the Coast Guard is for daily surveys of selected beach sections, taken first thing in the morning, after sunrise and before about 7:30 a.m. Reports on conditions are being requested by 7:30 each morning for consistency.

If you think you can help with this assessment, please respond to the email address below. Staff of the MS Commission for Volunteer Services will be in touch with additional details about the location and instructions.

msoilspillvolunteers@gmail.com

PLEASE BE AWARE – we know that you probably have a number of questions about this request and what we asking you to do. We will not, however, have much capacity to respond to them over the weekend. We WILL however, follow up with a more detailed plan of action early next week.

Mark LaSalle, Pascagoula River Audubon Center