What about the Beaches?

The beaches have not been shut down and I do not expected them to be shut down.  However, several of out guests have called to ask questions such as, "what about the beaches? are the closed? who makes that call?"  I pulled the answers from the Escambia county Health Department Website (ref. http://escambiahealth.com/recent_hot_topics/2010/oil_spill.htm)

Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Incident
Avoiding Negative Health Impacts

At this time, there are no indications of any health risks to Floridians due to the Deepwater Horizon incident. Health officials have advised residents experiencing symptoms from possible odors (11.8kb; pdf) . The Department of Health (DOH) and DEP are closely monitoring health and environmental impacts to Florida’s beaches and will notice an advisory if conditions become unsafe.Possible Health Advisories
In the event beaches are impacted by the oil spill, it may be necessary to issue health advisories in order to protect health and safety of citizens. If a health advisory is issued, signs would be posted (420kb; jpg) near the affected waters. The Florida Department of Health is the agency that will issue health advisories, if needed, for the area of affected water and shoreline. Remember that:

• Beaches above the high tide line should remain open for sunbathing, walking, shopping and restaurants.
• The exact area for the advisories will have to be determined once oil is spotted and reported. Signs will be posted (420kb; jpg) to notify visitors and residents.

So, what does all of this mean?  We have not been affected, but if we are affected the course of action is set in place to protect our visitors.  The priority will remain with the safety of our visitors and residents, so rest assured that unless we are informed via a health advisory directly from the Escambia County Health Department it is safe to be on our still beautiful beaches.

Published on Wednesday, June 2, 2010