APALACHICOLA -- Florida coastal protection measures edged ever eastward Tuesday with Franklin County workers laying boom to protect fragile estuaries around this famed oystering community.
The Lombardi Seafood Landing Park was closed, serving instead as a staging area for the Deepwater Horizon response.
A flatbed truck was stacked high with orange and yellow boom, waiting to be towed into the waterways.
On Monday, about 7,700 feet of boom was put in the waters, officials said, with plans for nearly 20,000 feet to be placed on Tuesday. The boom is being laid at Bob Sike's Cut, Indian Pass and West Pass.
Apalachicola is home to the most fertile oyster beds in the Gulf of Mexico and the economic lifeblood of the region. No oil had landed yet but there were worries aplenty.
``We're very concerned,'' said County Commissioner Pinki Jackel. ``Our community thrives on two things: the seafood industry and the tourism industry. And those go hand in hand. we realize what's at stake and we're very frightened.''
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