Hands Across the Sand deemed a success
According to Event Coordinators Dan Morrissey and Pat Titterington, Hands Across The Sand, which raised awareness last Saturday about the pending Florida legislation to drill oil in our coastal waters, was a successful venture.
The two Fafco Solar Energy personnel helped organize 119 people form a human chain on the north end of Fort Myers Beach to show opposition and convince Governor Charlie Crist and other legislators to drop any and all legislation that would allow oil drilling as close as three to 10 miles off the Florida coastland.
Photos of the event are expected to be sent to officials in the state capital in Tallahassee.
“Taking the cold and wind into consideration, I’d say we had a pretty
good turn out,” said Morrissey. “About 120 people joined hands on Fort Myers Beach Saturday to say YES to clean beaches and NO to offshore oil drilling. Everyone was upbeat.”
Titterington told The Beach Observer last week he believes what has happened along the coast of Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi will occur in Southwest Florida if oil drilling occurs.
“The infrastructure that goes along with this is really going to be an eyesore,” he said. “Since the drilling is three miles away, you don’t see the dirt and silt. But, the silver pipes and valves and refineries are inland.”
Then there is the oil spillage to consider. While a spill along the coast of Mississippi dissipates into the Gulf, one oil accident in Southwest Florida is a different story.
“If we have an oil spill around here, it goes into the Back Bay, and it’s in those mangroves forever,” said Titterington.