Cleaning Up Our Beaches

Yesterday I met with U.S. Coast Guard Captain Ogyrdziak and others involved with cleaning the beaches after the March 22 Texas City Y bunker oil spill. The bulk of the oil came ashore along the environmentally sensitive Aransas Wildlife Refuge, but tar balls were found as far south as the 4 wheel drive area of the Padre Island National Seashore.

I traveled to Port O'Connor, Texas, to be briefed by response officials on the oil spill and tour part of the affected area. Incident Commander Captain Ogyrdziak told me about and showed me the fantastic work of the cleanup and incident management teams. I also met with members of the Joint Incident Post, including representatives from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), to discuss the oil spill's impact on area wildlife and the ongoing cleanup efforts of Aransas National Wildlife Refuge.

I exchanged texts and voicemails with a representative of one of the contractors cleaning up Mustang and Padre Island near Corpus Christi and Port Aransas who assured me the operation was going well.

I believe Coast Guard is doing a fantastic job leading a response team made up agencies like the Texas Land Office and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, the barge owners, and other responders at the local, state, and federal levels, who are all cooperating and working together on the cleanup effort. I'm very impressed with the great group of people assembled who are working hard to protect our wildlife and beaches. The U.S. Coast Guard assured me that, weather permitting, the situation will be successfully mitigated in a matter of weeks. My office will be continuing to monitor the cleanup, and I look forward to seeing the progress. I’m confident this will be a great and successful recovery effort.