Environmental crews continue cleaning up last week's oil spill
CHEBOYGAN, MI -- Crews are continuing to work on cleaning the oil from beaches in Cheboygan.
Last week, oil washed ashore and coated 300 yards of the Cheboygan State Park beach.
An additional 15 gallons of oil were found in a remote, protected part of shoreline in Cheboygan State Park this week.
“Unfortunately, that small amount of oil in a sensitive ecosystem is on the same level as a large amount of oil anywhere else," said Marine Science Tech First Class Officer Kevin Biami of the US Coast Guard.
Clean-up continues on the shores of Duncan Bay. Just last week, this shoreline on the public beach of Cheboygan State Park was covered in oil. It's clean now, but in the distance, oil found in a sensitive area has environmental clean-up crews busy.
“This one has been a lot more logistically challenging because we didn't want to inadvertently in pursuing moving the oil, break a law ourselves," said MST1 Biami.
Crews couldn't clean it up right away because this batch of oil, estimated to be about 15 gallons, washed up in a protected area. The Piping Plover, a Federally Protected, Endangered bird, nests here, next to the Common Tern, a State Protected, threatened bird. Houghton's Goldenrod, a federally protected, threatened plant, is also in the area. Before any work could be done, there was a big meeting, involving Federal, State, and local officials, to see if it was wise to enter the area.
“We want to make sure we abide by the regulatory departments of protecting the environment."
Scientists and biologists went to the scene, and they determined the birds had migrated for the season, and the plant wouldn't be hurt, so work began to get rid of the oil in the area.
“If we don't get it all, it might have a long-term impact on birds that are endangered and threatened," said Biami.
The Coast Guard has set up a boom around two of the ships in the bay, as they continue their investigation. They say they do this as a precautionary reason.
The investigation continues as they search for where the oil came from. Samples and analysis will help determine the source.
There's limited access to the beach, so they're removing the contaminated sand by shoreline to a dumpster off one of the state park roads.
The hope is to have all of the oil cleaned up by Thursday.
