Good news today! After nearly 6 months absence, the FL Department of Environmental Protection has resumed testing the water for oil and dispersants. Even better news is that their first rounds of sampling have turned up no significant levels of PAH's or dispersant compounds. They have significantly improved the scope of the program and are making efforts to make the data more user friendly and accessible. You can see the current data on the DEP web page: :http://www.dep.state.fl.us/labs/cgi-bin/beach_health/index.asp
While Surfrider continues to address impacts of the oil and dispersant still found on our beaches, we are very thankful for this new action by the FL DEP and we are hopeful that it represents the start of a sincere effort to protect the people of Florida.