Hauppauge, NY – County Executive Steve Levy was joined by Legislator Tom Cilmi at a meeting of key Suffolk departmental commissioners on June 7 as they considered steps that could be taken to minimize the potential impact of the Gulf oil spill on area waterways.

Top managers from Suffolk’s departments of Environment and Energy, Parks, Fire Rescue and Emergency Services, Public Works, Economic Development and Workforce Housing and Health Services participated in the session. The officials reviewed existing plans for responding to similar emergencies and discussed ways in which those plans can be updated to account for specifics associated with the Gulf incident.

According to government estimates, anywhere from 20 million to 43 million gallons of oil have spilled into the Gulf since the catastrophic accident at an offshore rig, Deepwater Horizon. While efforts continue to contain the plume and to stem the flow of oil gushing into the Gulf of Mexico, officials along shoreline communities all the way up the eastern seaboard are scrambling to determine how to deal with the situation if the oil makes its way around the Florida panhandle and up the coast.

“The oil slick is probably not going to hit here,” Levy told participants, “but if it does, we want to be ready.”

Among the options that were raised for dealing with the slick if it becomes problematic were controlled burning, oil vacuuming and the establishment of physical barriers known as booms within Suffolk’s inlets at Shinnecock, Moriches and Fire Island. Levy and Cilmi voiced strong support for protecting area wetlands in any way possible should it become clear that the spill will enter the New York waterway region.

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