More News

by Sean R. Sedam

Staff Writer

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to meet with state officials, scientists and business owners Tuesday in Ocean City for a roundtable discussion of what the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico could mean for Maryland.

Officials of the state Department of Business and Economic Development will be on hand to discuss "not only the potential impact should the oil hit the shore, or near the shore, but the peripheral impact on seafood prices and availability," said O'Malley spokesman Shaun Adamec.

Officials of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Coast Guard also will participate in the discussion, which will be held at Fish Tales restaurant, overlooking the Isle of Wight Bay in at Bahia Marina.

The business angle is a different focus from a discussion of the potential impact of the leak that O'Malley held with state cabinet officials May 26 in Annapolis as part of a hurricane preparedness "table-top exercise."

After the roundtable, O'Malley (D) will join Maryland Department of Environment officials for a demonstration of how protective booms could be laid in the water to guard the shoreline from oil.

Officials believe that there is a small chance of oil from the leak reaching Maryland, with a remote possibility that the state could see a few tar balls wash ashore.

But with forecasters watching the first tropical storm of the season, which churned off the Gulf coast of southern Texas and northern Mexico Monday and threatened to become a hurricane, the booms will demonstrate that the state "has the technology available and that it can strategically deploy it," Adamec said.

"It's more of a demonstration of preparedness should it be necessary," he said. "All the science points now to there being a very low chance of oil hitting the Maryland shore."

O'Malley's roundtable comes a day after Sen. Barbara A. Mikulski (D), U.S. Rep. Frank M. Kratovil Jr. (R-Dist. 1) of Stevensville, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan and Phillips Seafood Vice President Paul Wall were scheduled to discuss beach replenishment funding, offshore drilling and the potential impacts of the oil spill in Ocean City.