Florida Releases Gulf Oil Spill Situation Update For June 7, 2010
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 June 7, 2010.
Florida Beaches Are OPEN!
Click here for tips for residents and visitors to take precautions both pre and post-landfall.
Weather Summary:
- Moderate southwest winds over the weekend resulted in a northeastward movement of oil sheen and tarballs toward the western Panhandle.
- A rare June cold front will move slowly through the northern Gulf Coast today, which will shift winds to a westerly direction today before shifting to the north tonight. This may temporarily abate northward-moving oil, although ocean currents may still push some surface or sub-surface oil towards Florida.
- Southerly winds will quickly re-establish across the region Tuesday through the end of the week. Chances for rain and choppy seas will decrease over the next 3-4 days, promoting a greater recovery of surface oil.
Current Situation:
- Florida beaches are open.
- Unified Area Command estimates release rate of oil from Deepwater Horizon at 12,000 to 19,000 barrels per day.
- This event has been designated a Spill of National Significance.
- 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.
Tourism:
- Through www.VISITFLORIDA.com, vacationers are able to view live Twitter feeds and read up-to-the-minute information on the status of any city or region in Florida. Learn more at http://www.visitflorida.com/florida_travel_advisory/.
- The Florida State Parks website, http://www.floridastateparks.org, is updated daily and will list any impacts. Learn more by calling 1-850-245-2157.
As of 6/6/10:
- More than 20,000 personnel are working the on and offshore response.
- Oil-water mix recovered: approximately 15.48 million gallons
- Response vessels in use: more than 2,700
- Dispersant (in gallons): approximately 1,082,000 deployed / 240,000 available
- There is no planned use of dispersants in Florida waters.
Florida Specific:
- Reports of tarballs and/or areas of light sheen have been confirmed from Escambia County to Walton County. 2,642 personnel are actively cleaning the beaches.
- Oil Containment Boom (in feet) total: 431,075 deployed in Florida. Tier 1: 148,475 / Tier 2: 282,600
- In accordance with established plans, protective booming and boom maintenance is being conducted in the coastal areas of Bay, Escambia, Franklin, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, and Walton Counties.
- According to the NOAA oil plume model, the primary oil plume is less than 5 miles from Pensacola, 85 miles from Gulf County, and 260 miles from St. Petersburg, with non contiguous sheens and scattered tarballs closer. NOAA trajectories continue to indicate tarballs and areas of light sheen may impact the beaches of the Florida Panhandle through Wednesday with direct impacts most likely remaining west of Choctawhatchee Bay
- BP is providing a $100,000 grant through a Memorandum of Understanding with Volunteer Florida to maintain a database for the registration of volunteers: http://www.1-800-volunteer.org/1800Vol/volunteerflorida/viewEventDetails.do?eventId=31601
- BP issued a $25 million block grant to Florida; first priority is booming.
- BP has issued a second $25 million grant to Florida for a national tourism advertising campaign. ESF 18 – Business, Industry, and Economic Development has launched a national radio and print advertising campaign for Florida tourism.
- 286 vessels have been deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.
- 3 staging areas are in place to protect sensitive shorelines in Florida.
- At the request of Governor Crist, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce expanded the fishery failure declaration for the Gulf of Mexico to include Florida on 6/2/10. This declaration provides impacted and eligible commercial fisheries the opportunity for federal support; it does not close fisheries.
Florida Information Lines
- The Florida Oil Spill Information Line (FOSIL) is available from 8am-6pm EDT daily at (888) 337-3569.
- For general health/exposures information questions related to the oil spill, contact the Florida Poison Information Center at 1-800-222-1222.
- Mobile Unified Command has established two public hotline numbers for oil
spill investigation and cleanup:
- Impacted Wildlife: (866) 557-1401
- Oiled Shoreline: (866) 448-5816
The Florida Department of State has established a hotline for archeological, historical preservation, and tribal lands that may be impacted by the Deepwater Horizon incident: (850) 245-6530.
State Actions:
- State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) is at a Level 1 (Full), operating from 0700 to 1800 EDT, with Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) as the lead agency.
- Governor’s Executive Orders 10-99, 10-100, and 10-106 declared a state of emergency for:
Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, and Gulf (10-99)
Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee, and Sarasota (10-100)
Charlotte, Lee, Collier, Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach (10-106)
- Governor’s Executive Order 10-115 authorizes the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to designate Free Saltwater Fishing Days to encourage noncommercial fishing in Florida.
- 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 from the loss of commerce and revenues due to the oil spill.
- Conducting daily conference calls with county and emergency management partners, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, and various Unified Commands.
2 SERT liaisons have been deployed to Gulf and Escambia Counties today.
- ESF 13 – 33 Florida National Guard (FLNG) personnel on duty; 3 aircraft are providing air support on-scene in Louisiana through EMAC.
- ESF 16 conducting daily reconnaissance flights and 25 (1 person) ATVs patrolling Florida’s shoreline from Escambia County to Gulf County for impact.
- ESF 15 – 8,290 registered volunteers; 2,676 volunteers have completed 11,564 hours for pre-impact beach clean ups in response to Deepwater Horizon. Volunteers and Donations is providing consistent messaging to Florida volunteers, “All oil-contaminated materials will be handled by trained, paid workers and not by volunteers.”
- ESF 8 – Syndromic surveillance is active in 6 coastal counties in the Florida Panhandle, monitoring for potential health effects.
- The Boom Coordination Cell continues to coordinate additional boom requests.
- An Innovative Technology Cell is assessing alternative clean-up technologies suggested by the public and stakeholders.
- ESF 10 – All State sampling data being collected along the Gulf coastline is at www.nrdata.org.
- The Small Business Administration has issued an Economic Injury Disaster
Loan Declaration for the State of Florida
Disaster Loan Outreach Centers have been opened in the following counties: Bay, Escambia, Gulf, Franklin, Okaloosa, Santa Rosa, Wakulla, and Walton.
Loan Applications:
- Issued: 190 Accepted: 34 Declined: 10 Approved: 2
- Loan amount approved: $255,000.00
Local States of Emergency
• Bay: Expires on 6/10/10
• Dixie: Expires on 6/10/10
• Escambia: Expires on 6/11/10
• Franklin: Expires on 6/8/10
• Gulf: Expires on 6/10/10
• Okaloosa: Concurrent with State
• Santa Rosa: Expires on 6/11/10
• Sarasota: Expires on 6/7/10
• Wakulla: Expires on 6/7/10
• Walton: Expires on 6/11/10
County EOC Activations
• Bay, Level 2 (Partial)
• Escambia, Level 2 (Partial)
• Gulf, Level 2 (Partial)
• Okaloosa, Level 2 (Partial)
• Santa Rosa, Level 2 (Partial)
• Wakulla, Level 2 (Partial)
Topics: 2010, Alabama, animals, beaches, BP, British Petroleum, business, coastline, Deepwater Horizon, Economy, emergency response, environment, environmental impact, fisherman, Fishery Failure Determination, fishing, Florida, Florida seafood products, GOHSEP, Governance, government, Governor Charlie Crist, Gulf of Mexico, Halliburton, Jimmy Buffet, loans, moniter, monitor, news, Obama Administration, Oil Rig, oil spill, Panhandle, pollution, President Obama, tourism, Transocean, U.S., UCG, United States, VISIT FLORIDA marketing campaign, White House, www.visitflorida.com
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