Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the U-S Coast Guard and Florida Department of Environmental Protection are ending their active monitoring of the state coastline.
The government agencies have been watching the beaches for oil and tar washing ashore from the 2010 British Petroleum disaster.
But now DEP is creating a volunteer-based beach watch program, starting in the Panhandle, to monitor for contamination.
The agency's Gwen Keenen says the state will train local volunteers, many of whom already monitor for such things as sea turtle nests, to look for anything out of the ordinary.
"We want to capitalize on partnering with those existing teams that already have some awareness and knowledge on what this oil looks like, and then bring in other interested volunteers", Keenen said. "The Coast Guard has already said that they would work with us to provide training on oil identification and how to make accurate reports."
Any oil spill-related cleanup going forward will still be paid for by British Petroleum.