PASCAGOULA, Miss. – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality called Jackson County and offered the county’s Emergency Management a $500,000 oil skimmer boat, at no cost. EMS Director Earl Etheridge checked it out and on Tuesday convinced the Jackson County Board of Supervisors to take it. The 30-foot pontoon boat with two motors and a wheel house was built after the 2010 BP oil spill to skim oil from the surface of water. It was designed to hold 1,200 gallons. But the county plans to remove that equipment, worth $200,000 that might be auctioned off, and install pumps to fight harbor and port fires. (Source: Sun Herald, 09/07/16)
