Once again the citizens of Camden County have answered the call for help and, on behalf of the St. Marys EarthKeepers and our city, I thank you.
The Tribune & Georgian article can be found at
http://ping.fm/J8KQz We now have over 100 volunteers who have signed on to pitch in if needed (some of whom are willing to go to the Gulf should we be called to do so). In the next week or so, the GaVOAD will supply us with the necessary HAZWOPER information - and the Gulf agencies with whom we are registered as volunteers are in constant contact as they assess the situation and set up training camps.
Oceanographic and meteorological experts can only "guesstimate" as to the possibility of the slick entering the Gulf Loop current...
http://ping.fm/IPyqm Many experts maintain that it is not an "if" scenario, but "when"...
"If the slick contacts the so-called Loop sea current, the oily sheen could eventually be carried to Miami in southern Florida, or as far as North Carolina's barrier islands, warned Robert Weisberg, a physical oceanographer at the University of South Florida. "Exactly when the oil will enter the Loop Current at the surface is unknown, but it appears to be imminent," Weisberg said, referring to the prevailing current in the Gulf."
http://ping.fm/iRS8a Should the worse happen - the oil and disperants become caught in the Gulf Loop - it will be an "all hands on deck" situation for Cumberland Island and the most pressing need at that point will be to clear the 17 miles of beaches of all man-made and natural debris (in order to facilitate more effective clean-up). But we, as a community, are blessed by willing hands and we will be as prepared as it is possible to be.
I thank you...and ask for your patience and prayers. I know that so many are aching to help in some way now, but we must let nature dictate our actions and wait for the knowledgeable agencies in the Gulf (and our own state) to direct us. I shan't burden your inboxes with up-dates as we all watch and wait but I will, most assuredly, contact you all if the "worst-case-scenario" occurs.
Alex
Alex Kearns
Chair
St. Marys EarthKeepers, Inc.
Office: 912-673-6120
Cell: 912-322-7367
Email: alexkearns1@msn.com
