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Officials counter bad news about oil leak
PENSACOLA, Fla., (UPI) -- An effort is under way to counter what officials say are misconceptions about the effect the massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak is having on coastal beaches.
The Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center put a release on its Web site Sunday headlined: "Volunteers, agencies counter misinformation about oil spill."
The piece starts off by saying, "Rumors have been spreading about the oil spill." Those "exaggerated rumors about dirty beaches" can cause people to cancel their vacations and torpedo the economy in an "otherwise pristine beach town," the release stated.
"Yes, there are tar balls here and there," said Bianca Ephraim, a receptionist at the National Parks Service, "but our water is clear as glass."
Ephraim says she takes up to 70 calls a day, many of them dealing with questions about the status of beaches because of the ongoing BP leak that has sent tens of millions of gallons of crude flowing into the gulf since an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers.
"They'll call and say, 'I've heard this,'" she described, "it's not that they don't believe us, but it's a rumor."
The center says the U.S. Parks Service in Pensacola, Fla., has volunteers working the beaches to answer visitors' questions and update a hotline if oil is spotted.
Harv Wilson, a contractor assisting with animal recovery, says he's had to shoot down rumors cited by callers such as the one about oil-coated birds being spirited from beaches at night to hide the evidence of the spill.
PENSACOLA, Fla., (UPI) -- An effort is under way to counter what officials say are misconceptions about the effect the massive Gulf of Mexico oil leak is having on coastal beaches.
The Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center put a release on its Web site Sunday headlined: "Volunteers, agencies counter misinformation about oil spill."
The piece starts off by saying, "Rumors have been spreading about the oil spill." Those "exaggerated rumors about dirty beaches" can cause people to cancel their vacations and torpedo the economy in an "otherwise pristine beach town," the release stated.
"Yes, there are tar balls here and there," said Bianca Ephraim, a receptionist at the National Parks Service, "but our water is clear as glass."
Ephraim says she takes up to 70 calls a day, many of them dealing with questions about the status of beaches because of the ongoing BP leak that has sent tens of millions of gallons of crude flowing into the gulf since an April 20 explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig, killing 11 workers.
"They'll call and say, 'I've heard this,'" she described, "it's not that they don't believe us, but it's a rumor."
The center says the U.S. Parks Service in Pensacola, Fla., has volunteers working the beaches to answer visitors' questions and update a hotline if oil is spotted.
Harv Wilson, a contractor assisting with animal recovery, says he's had to shoot down rumors cited by callers such as the one about oil-coated birds being spirited from beaches at night to hide the evidence of the spill.
