Oil on Our Shores in SC?

Turns out, if any oil does come our beaches, it's not much to fret about. Even though the threat to oil on these coasts is still months away, state agencies aren't taking any chances.

"DHEC decided to be proactive and get some baseline samples to see what was out there," said Sean Torrens, environmental health manager for the Department of Health and Environmental Control. "[We're] basically looking for oil and references to oil in the water."

Photo Courtesy: wmbfnews.com
Torrens said they took 10 samples up and down the coast, including here in Myrtle Beach near Spring Maid Pier.

"Everything came back at pretty much next to zero," Torrens said. "It was as low as you could read."
At Coastal Carolina's Center for Marine and Wetland Studies, they say they are also watching the spill closely.

Photo Courtesy: wmbfnews.com

"Finding oil in water is not always that unusual," Director Paul Gayes said. "Boats go by, there's other kinds of things that may put oil in it. A baseline is important to give you some kind of sense of what conditions normally are."

Gayes says it would take the oil getting into the Gulf Stream to bring it to South Carolina's coast, adding that the Gulf Stream is well off the Palmetto State's coast, 60-80 miles offshore. Areas like the tip of Florida and Cape Hatteras are not so removed.

We went live from the Spring Maid Pier spot and recorded a Look Live VO/SOT. I'm very pleased with using references as to why I'm where I am and my writing. I rushed my last phrase and my outcue a little too much. I'm working on slowing that down.

WMBF News' webstory

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