Florida Releases August 26, 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Situation Update
On August 26 all state fisheries, with the exception of Blue Crab, which are unavailable for testing, are open for harvesting.
To date BP has provided the state of Florida with over $85 million in funds for response, operations, and recovery efforts.
NOAA forecast oil trajectories do not indicate any recoverable oil to appear across the northern-central gulf, but minor tarball impacts are still possible. Offshore, there is no path for oil to enter the Florida Straits. View the Florida Gator Interactive Oil Spill Map
Open water fishing operations from the MC252 BOP will continue today. The fishing operations will aim at removing drill pipe within the MC252 BOP. The DDII has completed preparations for its BOP to be used on the Macondo well and is standing by. The DDIII is on standby but maintaining full readiness to proceed when directed.
Approximately 132 miles of Gulf Coast shoreline is currently experiencing moderate to heavy oil impacts: 3 miles in Florida, 115 miles in Louisiana, 11 miles in Mississippi and 3 miles in Alabama. 524 miles of shoreline are experiencing light to trace oil impacts: 125 miles in Florida, 235 miles in Louisiana, 98 miles in Mississippi and 66 miles in Alabama.
Beaches in Escambia County, including Pensacola Beach, Perdido Key and the Gulf Islands National Seashore, are open for swimming. There have been minimal reports of oil, usually scattered tar balls, in the past six weeks. Learn more
Governor Charlie Crist, the State Emergency Response Team and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) are actively coordinating and responding to the Deepwater Horizon incident.
The following is a summary of state and BP response actions as of August 26, 2010.
Map of BP Oil Spill as of August 25, 2010. Click on images for larger picture.
No recoverable oil has been reported by daily overflights since July 30. Daily satellite analyses have indicated a decreasing number of possible oil anomalies since the well has been capped. Recent overflights sent to investigate satellite anomalies have only reported seeing seaweed with an occasional colorless sheen.
We do not expect any recoverable DWH oil to appear in the offshore environment. However, observations will continue into the foreseeable future. If the need arises, surface oil trajectories will be produced again. Periods of onshore winds may result in some scattered tarball impacts for the next few weeks to months.
Visit geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/ to see the latest information about the oil spill’s trajectory, the position of NOAA’s research ships, spilled oil’s coastal location and the areas closed to shipping.
Weather Summary:
The Panhandle will likely see on and off passing showers and thunderstorms throughout the day today with a 30-50% chance of rain. Some of these storms may linger throughout the night and there is a 20-30% chance of rain across the Panhandle tonight. These rain chances will persist through Saturday. Seas will be between 1-3 feet today. Heavy cloud cover will limit heat index values and they will likely remain below 100 degrees today. In the tropics, Hurricane Danielle is currently at Category 2 strength with maximum sustained winds of 105 mph, and may reach major hurricane intensity late tonight or tomorrow. The official forecast track still curves the storm away from the U.S. coastline, east of Bermuda. Tropical Storm Earl has maximum sustained winds of 45 mph and is expected to be a hurricane by Friday or Saturday. Earl is also expected to curve away from the U.S. coastline, following a path similar to Danielle.
Current Situation:
Florida beaches are open.
Currently Deepwater Horizon is not discharging any oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Unified Area Command continues with a comprehensive oil well intervention and spill response planning following the April 22 sinking of the Transocean Deepwater Horizon drilling rig 130 miles southeast of New Orleans. The static kill and cementing procedures have been successful and oil is no longer being released from the well.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) that analysis shows Southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the East Coast are unlikely to experience any effects from the remaining oil on the surface of the Gulf.
- This event has been designated a Spill of National Significance.
- More than 30,294 personnel are working the on and offshore response.
- Oil-water mix recovered: over 34.7 million gallons. Dispersant: more than 1.84 million gallons deployed.
- Response vessels available: more than 4,375. Response aircraft available: 72
Florida Specific:
All Tier 1, 2 & 3 boom has been removed and stored in the Northwest Florida counties.
Tar balls continue to be reported in Northwest Florida.
56 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.
BP has assumed direct financial responsibility for approx $9 million of Boom contracts for Florida counties.
Further Information:
The Florida Oil Spill Information Line (FOSIL) is available from 8am-6pm EDT daily.
- English – (888) 337-3569 / TDD – (800) 955-8771 / Voice – (800) 955-8770
- Spanish – (877) 955-8773
- Haitian Creole – (877) 955-8707
Two public hotline numbers for oil spill investigation and cleanup:
- Impacted Wildlife: (866) 557-1401
- Oiled Shoreline: (877) 2-SAVE-FL or #DEP for cellular devices
Information Websites:
Volunteer registration: www.VolunteerFlorida.org and click “Register to Help”
Health advisories: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/health.htm
State sampling data: www.nrdata.org
GATOR web mapping application: http://map.floridadisaster.org/gator/
Recovery related jobs, response management application: http://FloridaGulfRecoveryJobs.com/
NOAA GeoPlatform: http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/
Sample of Overall State Actions:
- A total of 791,061 feet of Tier 1, 2, and 3 boom was deployed and recovered
- 8,349 reconnaissance reports were submitted to GATOR
- 17,371 samples were taken for testing
- 2,000 tons / 500,000 gallons of oil were recovered from Florida’s shoreline
- The Civil Air Patrol took 81,231 photos on reconnaissance flights
- 3 oil impact notices and 9 health advisories were issued and rescinded
- 14,564 oil spill job positions were advertised, with 46,486 referrals made through the Agency for Workforce Innovation and regional workforce boards
- 128 Guardsmen were deployed for the response
- 196 press releases were issued
- 19,899 volunteers registered to respond to the event from all 50 states and 10 countries, with 31,031 volunteer hours served
State Actions:
State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) is at a Level 2 (Partial), operating from 0800 to 1700 EDT, with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) as the lead agency.
The SEOC will return to a Level 3 (Monitoring) status on Friday, August 27, 2010 at 0800 hours EDT. This will be the final Situation Report issued by the SEOC for Deepwater Horizon.
Governor’s Executive Orders 10-99, 10-100, 10-106 and 10-132 declared a state of emergency for identified Florida coastal counties.
Governor’s Executive Order 10-101 established the Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force, which will facilitate efforts by Florida businesses and industries to recover the loss of commerce and revenues due to the oil spill.
Governor’s Executive Order 10-169, authorizing property appraisers to provide interim assessments of properties affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster.
There are two Florida branch offices in Northwest Florida. These branch offices bring together federal, state and local agencies to streamline response efforts.
Conducting daily conference calls with county and emergency management partners, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, and various Unified Commands.
A SERT Toxicological Data Analysis Cell is providing consistent scientific assessments of collected sampling to inform local/state decision making.
9 Florida National Guard personnel on duty at various duty posts in the Deepwater Horizon area of operations.
AmeriCorps, National Civilian Community Corps members are assisting with models for a community-run Citizen Information Station (CIS).
Currently, Florida has 8 task forces capable of both gross and secondary decontamination of vessels, and 1 task force capable of gross decontamination of vessels.
Emergency Bridge Loan Program, cumulative totals (As of 8/20/10):
- Applications: 106
- Declined: 15
- Approved: 91
Amount: $2,189,500
The Small Business Administration issued an Economic Injury Disaster Loan Declaration for the State of Florida. Outreach Centers are open in 9 counties.
Total Loan Applications:
- Issued: 816
- Accepted: 298
- Declined: 123
- Approved: 562
Loan amount approved: $6,459,700.00
BP claims in Florida total 38,979 with approximately $81,899,686.61 paid.
Recovered Oiled Wildlife: On 08/24/10
See the consolidated wildlife report updated by noon each day: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963
Local States of Emergency
Escambia: Expired
Santa Rosa: Expired
Okaloosa: 8/28/10
Bay: Expires on 8/26/10
Gulf: Expires on 8/31/10
Franklin: Expires on 8/28/10
Wakulla: Expired
Dixie: Expired
Sarasota: Expires on 8/31/10
Jefferson: Expired
County EOC Activations
Escambia, Level 3
Santa Rosa, Level 3
Okaloosa, Level 3
Walton, Level 3
Bay, Level 2 (Partial)
Gulf, Level 2 (Partial)
Franklin, Level 3
Wakulla, Level 3
Jefferson, Level 3
Topics: 2010, August 25, beaches, BP, British Petroleum, business, coastline, Deepwater Horizon, Economy, emergency response, environment, environmental impact, Fishery Failure Determination, fishing, Florida, Florida seafood products, GOHSEP, Governance, government, Governor Charlie Crist, Gulf of Mexico, gulf oil map, landfall predictions, loans, Mexico Beach, moniter, monitor, news, noaa oil spill, Obama Administration, oil loop current, Oil Rig, oil spill, oil spill forecast, oil spill map, Panama City Beach, Panhandle, Pensacola Beach, Pensacola Pass, pollution, President Obama, tourism, Transocean, U.S., United States, VISIT FLORIDA marketing campaign, White House, www.visitflorida.com
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