Hands Across the Sand is an international grassroots event that brings people together to oppose new offshore oil drilling and promote a clean energy future. The Surfrider Foundation is an official sponsor of the event and our participation is a cornerstone of our Not the Answer campaign. Last year we were thrilled to join thousands of participants in making our voices heard.

The premise of the event is very simple: on August 4 at 12pm local time people will join hands for 15 minutes on beaches around the world to champion clean energy solutions to our filthy fuels problem. All events are organized locally by volunteers and the event website provides most of the resources that you will need.

So visit the Hands Across the Sand website today and sign up to organize an event at your local beach! (Many beaches go quickly, so don’t delay!) www.handsacrossthesand.com/

With Congress considering legislation to expand oil and gas development off our coasts, now is the time to join the grassroots movement to protect our coastlines from risky drilling practices!

For more information on organizing a local event, please contact Pete Stauffer at (503) 887-0514 pstauffer@surfrider.org.
 See you on the beach on August 4th!

Image: Bureau of Ocean Energy Management

The Department of Interior (DOI) has announced plans to conduct seismic surveys off the South and Mid-Atlantic coasts to assess potential oil & gas resources. The proposed surveys will employ loud and damaging technologies and are intended to set the stage for future energy development off the east coast.

Please make your voice heard and tell the Department that you support “Alternative C” (No Action).

Seismic surveys will produce major impacts on marine mammals, sea turtles, fishes and other marine life in the Atlantic ocean. The blasts from seismic airguns are incredibly loud and have been shown to interfere with the feeding, mating, communication, and migration activities of numerous species, including endangered whales.

Furthermore, offshore drilling is inherently polluting and dangerous, yet it will not solve our nation’s energy needs. According to the Department of Energy, fully developing all of our recoverable offshore oil reserves would lower pump prices by exactly 3 cents – and would take twenty years to do so. Such a tradeoff is not worth the risk to our coastal economies, including the tourism, recreation, and commercial fishing sectors which generate billions of dollars in annual revenue on the Atlantic coast.

Please click here to tell the Department that you support Alternative C!

To read DOI’s official announcement: click here

The President’s Gulf Oil Spill Commission also put out a report card.  They were quite a bit more generous (after all, would you give yourself a failing grade?), but their grades are still less than stellar, ranging from B to D.

The report slams Congress’ failure to implement a range of recommendations made in the commission’s January 2011 report. Those include ensuring dependable resources for federal agencies such as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, raising the oil spill liability cap significantly and codifying the changes to the Interior Department’s regulatory structure designed to eliminate conflicts of interest.

The House is going in the wrong direction, passing several bills to fast-track drilling that “run contrary” to steps that panel members warn are necessary to ensure safe production of oil and gas.

“Although the administration and industry have made significant progress, Congress has not,” said Bob Graham, one of the commission’s co-chairs. “Two years have passed since the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon killed 11 workers, and Congress has yet to enact one piece of legislation to make drilling safer.”

The only recommendation Congress is close to implementing is a proposal to dedicate 80 percent of the Clean Water Act penalties paid by BP to environmental restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. Even so, only the Senate has passed such a plan, and the House’s proposal is slightly different.

On June 10, the Emerald Coast Chapter was one of the first local volunteer organizations to begin a Gulf Beach Water Quality Monitoring Program in response to the minimal efforts made by state and federal agencies to monitor against the dangers of the BP oil spill.  Local surfers and swimmers have suffered from burning eyes and mouths, respiratory problems, nose bleeds and have developed toxic exposure rashes since the spill. They wanted to know what is in the water that might be causing these symptoms. The program provided opportunities for greater local public participation in Gulf beach clean-up efforts with a hands-on educational component.

Two years later, oil pollution in the Gulf continues to be is a moving target. While BP has tried to pick up tarballs or tilled them into finer pieces, most of the oil that has come to shore has been seeping into the beach sand on which we sit and play. Current government testing programs results do not provide enough information to the public to truly determine if Gulf beaches are clean enough for family or individual needs. Our monthly independent testing provided an alternate source of information that contradict agency testing results regarding the presence or absence of oil contamination on our beaches.

Below is a summary of the report’s top findings:

1. The data collected confirms that Corexit dispersant mixed with crude oil creates a discernible fluorescent signature when illuminated by 370nm wavelength (UV) light.
2. The use of Corexit as a dispersant has inhibited the microbial degradation of hydrocarbons in the crude oil and has allowed Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAH) concentration levels to consistently exhibit high toxicity levels in excess of the carcinogenic exposure level specified by NIH and OSHA.
3. Of the 32 sampling sites, mainly in Florida and Alabama, 26 had PAH concentration levels exceeding the established carcinogenic exposure limits.  In only three locations, samples were found to be free of PAH contamination.
4. Seventy-one samples were collected.  Twenty-three were tested for oil range organics and 16 exceeded the target clean up levels specified by the EPA.  Of the 48 samples submitted for PAH tests, 90% of the samples had contamination levels in excess of the carcinogenic exposure limit.
5. Tar product remaining in the coastal zone contains PAH levels likely to be toxic (levels > 80mg/kg). Wet skin dermal contact and absorption of tar product was documented.  This unknown risk for human health and safety should be further studied.
6. Carcinogenic PAH compounds from the toxic tar product that concentrates in surface layers from natural beach processes was found to be leaching into the lower layers of beach sediment.  One researcher’s published scientific results concluded this could lead to the contamination of local groundwater sources.

The program uses newly developed UV light equipment to detect the tar product and reveal where it is buried in many beach areas and also where it still remains on the surface in the shoreline plunge step area. The tar product samples are then analyzed using GCMS testing methods to determine which toxins may be present and at what concentrations. By returning to locations several times over the past year and analyzing samples, we have been able to determine that the PAH concentrations in most locations are not degrading as hoped for and expected.

The “State of the Beach” oil trend study was conducted by the Surfrider Foundation Emerald Coast Chapter and University of South Florida coastal geologist Rip Kirby.  The study was primarily funded by the Surfrider Foundation, grants from Patagonia, O’Neill, and the Norcross Foundation and by personal donations.

Press Release

Summary

To request the complete study, please contact Alexis Henry, Surfrider Foundation, ahenry@surfrider.org or 949.732.6413.

Recent Media coverage: http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/oil-from-deepwater-horizon-spill-still-causing-damage-in-gulf-2-years/1225134

To download a variety of videos and photos, please visit the following websites:

●      Photos: http://www.surfrider.org/emeraldcoast/beach-report/

●      Videos: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feOn-0uilKo

Despite this, BOEM is proceeding down the path of allowing seismic surveys along the mid- and south-Atlantic coast.

• April 3, Tallahassee, FL at 1:00 pm (EDT) at Tallahassee Community College,444 Appleyard Drive, Tallahassee, FL 32304
• April 4, Panama City Beach, FL at 1:00 pm and 6:00 pm (CDT) at Wyndham Bay PointResort, 4114 Jan Cooley Drive, Panama City Beach, FL 32408
• April 5, Spanish Fort, AL 2012, at 1:00 pm (CDT) at Five River’s Delta Resource Center,30945 Five Rivers Boulevard, Spanish Fort, AL 36527
• April 9, New Orleans, LA at 1:00 pm (CDT) at the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, 1201 Elmwood Park Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70123

Timeline with every imaginable link from day one to current:
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/03/with_gulf_oil_spill_settlement.htm

Whistleblower on COREXIT:
http://www.whistleblower.org/blog/42-2012/1786-health-concerns-in-bps-own-manual-raise-questions

Summary of initial hearing findings:
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/plaintiffs-steering-committee-in-bp-gulf-oil-spill-litigation-announces-settlement-in-principle-with-bp-141271963.html

An attorney speaks:
http://www.nola.com/news/gulf-oil-spill/index.ssf/2012/03/with_gulf_oil_spill_settlement.html

News analyst explains:
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/eyewitness-news-legal-analyst-explains-bp-settlement-28513301.html