VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (WVEC) -- Navy officials say they hope to continue releasing animals next week, after they go through a de-containment process following a jet fuel spill earlier this month at Naval Air Station Oceana.
Wildlife experts from Unified Command and Tri-State Bird Rescue & Research released three of the rehabilitated animals back into the wild on Wednesday, including turtles and a snake.
Hundreds of animals died after 94,000 gallons of jet fuel spilled at Oceana on May 11. Several residents who live in the area have been temporarily relocated to a hotel while cleanup continues.
On Friday morning, the Navy announced the "emergency phase" of the fuel cleanup is over, and now a "monitoring assessment phase" is underway.
Oceana Captain Rich Meadows says emergency phase of fuel cleanup is over, says commitment to nearby residents is top priority #13NewsNow pic.twitter.com/q5yq7XhoQK
— Mike Gooding 13News (@13MikeGooding) May 26, 2017