Doubt On Deep Clean

With all the hardware on the beach, some people have doubted the effectiveness of the deep cleaning of gulf beaches. Dr. George Crozier with the Dauphin Island Sea Lab says it’s just not worth it.

“This mining of tars that are three feet down in the beach isn't money well spent, it should be spent elsewhere,” says Dr. Crozier. He argues the environment can handle buried tar in a matter of years. He says communities should pick up surface oil from the beach, but digging for it is just too much.

Crozier says he understands why communities like Dauphin Island are going through with the deep clean. He says they want to show tourists they’re doing everything they can to make sure the beaches are clean and safe, but the deep clean amounts to a public relations effort.

“So making the effort is absolutely justified but there's certainly a point where the return on the dollar is just not there,” says Crozier. He says he’d rather see the money spent on promoting tourism and the safety of local seafood.