Wind, Heavy Seas Help Save Florida Beaches From Oil

Ten-foot seas and nearly 30-m.p.h. winds helped keep North Florida beaches clean in a massive oil spill Sunday but the rough weather prevented divers from patching the freighter responsible for the contamination.

“They had diving teams down yesterday trying to patch it. They’re going to try again today, but the seas are still rough. If anything, it’s worse today,” Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jim Simpson said Sunday.

The Norwegian-owned freighter Fernpasset, now anchored 34 miles offshore, has been leaking fuel since it hit a jetty in Jacksonville’s harbor Thursday, gouging holes in two of its six fuel tanks.

The oil slick stretched for 30 miles and was four miles wide at one point, and the Coast Guard estimated that 100,000 gallons of fuel had leaked out.

Cleanup crews with shovels scooped up the scattered patches of fuel that reached the beach, and they were expected to finish the job Sunday, said Coast Guard Petty Officer Joe Dye.

“The beaches look pretty clean. There were people out surfing yesterday,” Simpson said. “The fuel is still in the water, but it’s broken up and diluted so that it does not come onto the beach in huge black quantities.”