Walton County Will Defy State with Hay Plan

May 10, 2010 2:13 PM
Tom McLaughlin, Florida Freedom Newspapers

In defiance of the state’s wishes, Walton County emergency officials are determined to use hay to protect their beaches from oil.
Florida’s unified command center responded late last week to Walton County’s action plan for dealing with oil that reaches its shores from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in Louisiana.
The command was critical of the idea of spreading hay in the Gulf of Mexico to absorb incoming oil.
Michael Barker, head of Walton County’s Emergency Operation Center, said Monday that the county is committed to its action plan regardless of the state’s contention that putting hay on the water will only add to the mess left behind.
“The unified command has done us no good whatsoever and we’re getting no guidance from DEP,” Barker said. “Nobody else has come up with a better plan, so absent any kind of guidance from anybody, this is our defense.”
Barker said the state objected to putting out hay because “if it got in the water it could create a bigger problem.”
“Our thing is we want to protect the sand on that pretty white beach,” he said.