'GET THE JOB DONE': Walton officials, residents want faster oil cleanup (PHOTO GALLERY)
DeFUNIAK SPRINGS — Residents spoke out Tuesday at the Walton County Board of Commissioners meeting, demanding air and water testing, better communication and more information on the gulf oil spill.
Members of Reclaim Our America asked the commission to approve four recommendations on how to deal with the oil spill.
COLLECTION OF COVERAGE AND PHOTOS
To see photos of the DEP testing the waters of Walton County for dispersants, click here.
Tar balls coated the beach as far as they eye could see in Camp Creek. See photos click here.
The group asked that there be weekly meetings with a BP representative and state officials to discuss strategies and answer questions. It asked for more accurate testing of water and air, weekly reports on BP spending and an update on consultants.
“All my organization is asking for is the truth,” said Ed Berry with Reclaim Our America. “We hope the water is safe, but we need an updated test before we get in there.”
Walton County Sheriff Mike Adkinson agreed on the need for the recommendations.
“We’ll start on them tomorrow,” Adkinson said. “We want to be in the spirit of putting the best and most accurate information out there.”
He added that the Sheriff’s Office’s main objective was keeping the oil spill crisis from heavily affecting the environment and businesses of Walton County.
“We want to be able to tell people in a simple way is it good, bad or what and put that in a centralized location,” Adkinson said of the water and air tests results. “I want to do what’s prudent and best for the people of Walton County.”
Commissioners approved the recommendations and also approved a recommendation to discuss taking additional money for oil spill cleanup from the Beaches of South Walton Tourist Development Council’s reserves at the July 13 regular meeting.
Adkinson said he and other county officials have been frustrated in their dealings with Unified Command.
“I’ve had some animated conversations with the state department,” he said. “We have not been satisfied with the response to our water and air quality questions. So, now I’m asking, ‘What do we need to do to fix the problem?’ ”
Tar balls and oil washed up on about 14 miles of Walton County beaches on Tuesday afternoon. Adkinson said it has taken crews as long as 24 hours to get to some of the previous tar balls cleaned up.
“I’ve been displeased with the response time of cleanup crews so if we have to we will buy supplies and equipment as needed to get the job done,” Adkinson said. “Right now, we have about 14 miles of our beaches covered with tar balls and I see crews working 20 minutes then resting 40. We need to work these issues out.”
Commissioner Sara Comander said she has witnessed the slow pace.
“We have folks trained and ready to go, so why aren’t they being used?” she said. “This is a problem that needs to be solved.”
