OilSpillVolunteers.com

H ALEY B ARBOUR , G OVERNOR

MISSISSIPPI DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY

T RUDY D. F ISHER , E XECUTIVE D IRECTOR

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 4, 2010

Contact: Robbie Wilbur

601/961-5277

VOLUNTEER TRAINING AVAILABLE

( BILOXI , Miss.) – The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ), the Department of Marine Resources, and the Mississippi Emergency Management Agency have been meeting with British Petroleum to announce the availability of training for volunteers this week.

Community training for beach cleanup will be conducted at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College (MGCCC) campuses as follows:

2 p.m. , 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. , Tuesday to Saturday

Jackson County Campus – Gymnasium

Jefferson Davis Campus – Room U202

Training at Pearl River Community College :

2 p.m. , 4 p.m. and 6 p.m. , Tuesday to Friday

Pearl River CC Hancock County Center

This response training is hosted by local elected officials, BP personnel, community organizations and MGCCC.

These training sessions will qualify volunteers to participate in pre-landfall beach cleaning to minimize impact to the beaches.   Federal, state, and private entities are asking any volunteers to attend training to ensure their personal safety and well-being.

After training volunteers will be at the following locations for beach clean up:

Hancock County :

        2pm : Bay St. Louis

        4pm : Waveland

        6pm : Buccaneer State Park

Harrison County:

        2pm: Pass Christian Central

                Pass Christian East

                Long Beach

                Biolxi Central

        4pm:Gulfport West

                Gulfport Harbor

                Gulfport West Central

                Biloxi East

        6pm: Courthouse Rd.

                Gulport East

                Edgewater

Jackson County:

        2pm: Front Beach

                Shearwater

        4pm: Gulf Park Estates

                St. Andrews

        6pm: Pascagoula Beach West

                Pascagoula Beach East