Post-Tropical Storm Lee operational update

Mary Esther, Fla. – Following Tropical Storm Lee in early September, BP conducted SCAT (Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Technique) team assessments of the Florida shoreline. The tropical storm passed through the Gulf over Labor Day weekend, closing beaches along Florida’s northwest coast because of high winds, heavy rains, and rough surf.
Initial surveys of the shoreline in the immediate aftermath of the storm found the majority of amenity and non-amenity beaches in Florida remained free of oiling. However, crews did find some light to moderate occurrences of tar balls in isolated areas. Those analyzing tar ball collection data say the amount of product collected quickly trended back to levels seen before Lee.
As a part of BP's ongoing commitment to Florida, additional manual cleanup personnel were added after Tropical Storm Lee to help with existing cleanup operations. Teams visited several areas along the northwest Florida shoreline, including Perdido Key, Pensacola Beach, Okaloosa County, and Walton County. These extra workers supported BP’s ongoing beach patrol and maintenance work already taking place. At this time, BP has resumed pre-storm level operations.
SCAT teams in Florida consist of an Environmental Lead, a Safety Lead, and representative from the Coast Guard, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection and BP Operations.


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