As you’ve probably noticed, the news about the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico never seems to end. Whether about organizations pitching in to save the Gulf or new ideas for how to clean up this mess, there have been a lot of updates on the progress (or rather lack thereof) of BP.
The U.S. National Parks Service is the next to make headlines regarding the spill. Last week, the Service deployed two incident management teams in response to the devastating environmental damage. In addition, they have several employees working offsite as oil spill experts.
Response teams from the Service are focused mainly on human safety and the protection of natural resources in eight national parks in the Gulf area. They are working to assess the damage, plan for cleanup and install barriers to protect wildlife like shore birds and turtle nests. The Service is also preparing to plan for park closures, if necessary.
The National Park Service has prior experience with oil spill cleanup. The Service was involved in the cleanup of three national parks after the Exxon Valdez spill washed some 257,000 barrels of oil onto their shores in Alaska in 1989.
For more information about the parks affected, click here.
[Via: U.S. National Parks Service]
[Photo via: NASA Goddard Photo and Video]
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