BP and the U.S. Coast Guard will have a sea turtle rescuer on each of their oil-burning teams.
BP and the United States Coast Guard have reached a settlement with environmental groups over protecting sea turtles during controlled burning of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
BP and the U.S. Coast Guard reached a settlement with environmental groups, agreeing to take greater measures to protect sea turtles during controlled burns of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Turtle Island Restoration Network, Animal Welfare Institute and Animal League Defense Fund brought a suit against BP and the U.S. Coast Guard last week, seeking a temporary restraining order on oil-burning in the oil spill area created by the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon. As a result, BP has agreed to add trained sea turtle rescuers to all oil-spill cleanup teams.
BP and the U.S. Coast Guard have been sectioning off floating oil patches and burning them. According to the environmental organizations, these "burn boxes" could trap and burn sea turtles alive.
Controlled burning has been halted due to the inclement weather created by Hurricane Alex. Once burning resumes, sea turtle rescuers will be on hand to clear out any sea turtles before the oil patches are burned.
