City cancels state of emergency

Citing a small risk of oil reaching Sarasota’s shore, City Manager Bob Bartolotta has lifted the city’s state of emergency.

“The federal government has predicted the chances of oil coming ashore here in Sarasota are now very slim,” he said. “Seventy-five percent of the oil in the Gulf of Mexico has been cleaned up or accounted for, and the remaining 25% is degrading quickly.”

The city’s state of emergency was declared May 5 as a precautionary measure. It allowed city leaders to prepare a request for cleanup funds.

Last month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced there was less than a 1% of oil from the Deepwater Horizon leak reaching Sarasota County.

In fact, Georgia’s Atlantic coastline had a greater chance of seeing oil because of the water current.

Contact Robin Roy at [email protected].