A large container of an as yet undetermined chemical is rolling around in the surf near mile marker 35 on South Beach at Padre Island National Seashore. It is leaking fluids into the surf and those traveling south into the vicinity are being advised to not stop or fish anywhere near the container. The US Coast Guard and the General Land Office dispatched crews that are monitoring it and trying to determine what is leaking from the container. As you can see from the attached photograph, this is a large container and due to the significant weight and bulk of the item, it poses a real challenge for removal. So far no fish kills have been reported as a result of the leaking fluid but visitors are still reminded to stay well away from the item and the liquids leaking from it. Thankfully for park visitors, incidents such as this dont happen very often. However, as many visitors are aware, the currents push a lot of waste items ashore in the area. It is a good idea to always stay away from any containers that appear to be leaking liquids since you never know chemicals may be inside them. Many of these containers that wash ashore are the result of either illegal dumping, accidental loss, or from storm events that wash the containers into the ocean. While the amount of these type containers has decreased in the past decade, occasionally events such as Hurricane Ike will dump large numbers of containers on the beaches of Padre Island National Seashore. If you are visiting the park and see what may be a hazardous container please try to determine the location as accurately as possible and notify a park ranger. If additional information becomes available, the park will update our Facebook page to help keep visitors informed on the status of this potential health hazard
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 16:19:19 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015