MANATEE, Fla. -- The massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico poses serious risk to Manatee’s coastline, but favorable wind conditions and the natural currents of the gulf may spare the area effects from the disaster.
However, nothing is certain when a damaged oil rig off the Louisiana coast is leaking an estimated 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the gulf.
Florida is almost certain to see effects from the spill, but there is a good chance that Manatee and the west coast of Florida will be spared, according to Charlie Hunsicker, the county’s natural resources director. That’s because the gulf’s powerful Loop Current is 100 miles off Manatee shores, and would most likely push the oil past the west coast. Unfortunately, the Florida Panhandle and Keys, and eventually the Atlantic Ocean, are very much in danger, Hunsicker said.
Read the full story at bradenton.com.