Offshore Drilling Opponents Join Hands and Take Stand on Upham Beach

At Noon today, August 4, 2012, opponents of offshore oil drilling gathered on Upham Beach to participate in this year's nationwide Hands Across the Sand event.   Organized locally by the Suncoast Chapter of the Surfrider Foundation, over 100 people joined hands and stood in protest against offshore oil drilling at the same precise moment as others did the same on hundreds of other beaches across the world.

Many of those who participated arrived at Upham Beach specifically for the event, while others who were enjoying the beach or watching the nearby volleyball tournament heard the organizers' announcement about the event and joined in on the spur of the moment.  The spirit was lighthearted and everyone had a good time.

St. Pete Beach District 3 commissioner Marvin Shavlan arrived just after the event ended.  He then endured some serious grief from yours truly for being late  :)

It's been a while now since the Deepwater Horizon disaster, and attendance at this year's event was markedly diminished from the first Hands Across the Sand event, but it was nice to see folks still coming out and expressing their feelings about this important issue.  Kudos to the Surfrider Foundation for helping to keep this event alive!

Let's Join Hands Across the Sand at Upham Beach on August 4, 2012 against Offshore Oil Drilling!

At Noon on Saturday, August 4, 2012, hundreds of people will gather on Upham Beach in St. Pete Beach to join hands in opposition to offshore oil drilling at this year's Hands Across the Sand event.

Come to beautiful Upham Beach to join hands with those who want to keep our beaches pristine and beautiful.

Metered parking is available at:

6850 Beach Plz

St. Pete Beach, FL 33706

near the Paradise Grille.

St. Pete Beach Needs Volunteers to Photograph Beach Conditions Prior to Deepwater Horizon Oil Impact

ST. PETE BEACH, FL -  The Beach Stewardship Committee of St. Pete Beach, in conjunction with the city's Public Services department and the Environmental Public Health Division of the Florida Department of Health, is seeking volunteers to photograph the current condition of St. Pete Beach's beaches to assist the City, County and State in its efforts to monitor the condition of our beaches during the ongoing Deepwater Horizon oil crisis and to enable us to determine the extent to which our pristine white sands are being impaired by the oil and its residue.

Patti Anderson of the Florida Department of Health has released the following request:

Requested Action: 

We request that beach monitoring staff take a picture inventory of their beaches as a “Before” condition of the beaches in advance of the impact of the oil spill for the record.  We expect conditions to change as tar balls, etc,  start arriving – so although qualitative, can still be used as a measure of impact.  

The color of the sand is expected to change as 'hydrocarbons' start washing ashore.   Terms used are 'light, moderate and heavy'.   So getting pictures, in full sunlight of the sand color, will be helpful to document how conditions change.

We may very well ask you to repeat this activity as the beaches become impacted.   We will let you know as this is coordinated with the State Emergency Response Team (SERT).

Decisions to do beach cleanup could very well hinge on the color of the sand and the amount of tar balls.  So we wouldn't ask for this effort unless important.