Agreement Reached To Protect Sea Turtles From Oil Spill Response Burns

Conservation and animal welfare organizations have struck an interim agreement with BP and the Coast Guard to expeditiously develop mandatory protocols for including qualified independent observers on each burn team following specified sea turtle, search, rescue, and rehabilitation practices.  Such protocols will ensure to the greatest extent possible that the risk to endangered and threatened sea turtles is minimized before burns are ignited by making sure the turtles are located and removed before the burns are ignited, and will also increase the information collection process on wildlife being affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its cleanup efforts.