A charity is urging individuals in Florida to volunteer in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

TC Palm reports that the Indian River County branch of United Way is calling on interested parties to take oil industry training and support paid BP workers on the state's coastlines.

While volunteers will not work in direct contact with oil-contaminated materials, they will be trained to take part in preventative beach cleanups, wildlife monitoring and coastal watches.

They will be supported by BP-approved paraprofessionals with a more advanced level of oil training and expertise.

The news source reports: "Training will be required to volunteer. Unannounced, untrained volunteers could create an additional burden on those coordinating response efforts."

Organisations in search of volunteers with oil industry training include Volunteer Florida and the US Environmental Protection Agency.

According to Volunteer Florida, as of Wednesday last week (June 23rd), more than 3,000 volunteers in the state have carried out 18,574 hours of oil spill response work since the Deepwater Horizon crisis began.

Oil and Gas Directory: Training and Development