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Contact: Susan Teel, 850-934-2618
Contact: Ashley Warren, 850-232-3640
GULF BREEZE, FL. – Gulf Islands National Seashore officials announce the start of the fall 2020 season for the onsite cleanup of asphalt fragments and road base materials at the national seashore. In-water asphalt and other miscellaneous non-natural debris removal at Fort Pickens will begin Friday, November 06, 2020. Equipment will work in the tidal zone and near-shore areas for 2.6 miles between the Fort Pickens entrance station and Parking Lot 17A. Equipment will be staged at Parking Lot 19A and 17A. Work is expected to continue, conditions permitting, until December 22, 2020.
Fort Pickens is currently closed to visitors for clean-up and repair from damage sustained during Hurricanes Sally and Zeta. Should Fort Pickens reopen for visitor use prior to the completion of the in-water asphalt and debris removal, this should only cause minor impacts to visitor parking and traffic flow in the particular area of cleanup activities. Visitors may also be impacted by small closures to facilitate this work. These closures will be temporary and confined to discreet areas. Any effects on visitor use will occur between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Monday through Saturday, depending on weather conditions and tides. Work on holidays is expected to be minimal but may occur if significant weather delays are experienced.
The asphalt debris removal project is needed because roadway debris has accumulated for more than 20 years following hurricanes and storms that destroyed and scattered portions of the park’s asphalt roads. “Cleanup of the debris piled up over decades of storms is an ongoing process, which the National Park Service is committed to completing as thoroughly as possible. As wind and erosion reveals additional asphalt and debris, areas require multiple treatments,” stated Superintendent Dan Brown. Since project commencement in September 2015, the park has removed road debris and asphalt from over 500 acres from the Fort Pickens, Santa Rosa, and Perdido Key areas. This project will improve visitor experience of these areas. The larger on-land project will also culminate in native plant installation to mitigate for any damage to vegetation caused by the asphalt removal.
The Beach Enhancement and Asphalt Removal Project is a Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA) Early Restoration project that is being paid for with funds provided by BP as part of a 2015 settlement agreement with federal, state and local governments. NRDA projects compensate the public for injuries to natural resources and the loss of the services they provide, such as recreational use.
More information about other Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment restoration projects can be found at the Trustees’ web site: www.gulfspillrestoration.noaa.gov.
About Gulf Islands National Seashore: Created in 1971, the national seashore stretches 160 miles along the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico in Florida and Mississippi, and includes barrier islands, maritime forests, historic forts, bayous, and marine habitat. Visit us at www.nps.gov/GulfIslands, on Facebook www.facebook.com/GulfIslandsNPS, Twitter www.twitter.com/GulfIslandsNPS, and Instagram www.Instagram.com/GulfIslandsNPS.
About the National Park Service. More than 20,000 National Park Service employees care for America’s 422 national parks and work with communities across the nation to help preserve local history and create close-to-home recreational opportunities. Learn more at www.nps.gov, and on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
Last updated: November 5, 2020