Florida Releases July 6, 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Situation Update
On July 6 NOAA places the oil plume 40 miles from Pensacola, 118 miles from Panama City and 316 miles from St. Petersburg.
No significant amounts of oil are within or moving towards Eddy Franklin and there is no clear path for oil to enter the Florida Straits.
Strong southeasterly winds will continue throughout the day at 10-20 knots with gusts up to 25 knots. Nearshore waves will also begin to increase today with waves of 2-4 feet near the coastline this afternoon. Wave height will peak tomorrow morning with 4-6 feet waves near shore, and offshore waves around 10 feet.
These conditions, along with a 60% chance of rain offshore, will hamper surface recovery operations. However, the southeasterly winds and southerly waves will keep most of the oil away from the Florida coastline with no direct impacts and only the uncertainty line reaching as far east as Pensacola through Thursday.
On July 5, a total of about 24,980 barrels of oil were recovered: 16,760 barrels of oil were collected, 8,220 barrels of oil were flared and 57.1 million cubic feet of natural gas were flared.
All Florida Beaches are OPEN! 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 July 6, 2010.
Map of BP Oil Spill as of July 6, 2010. Click on images for larger picture.
This forecast is based on the NWS spot forecast from Monday, July 5 PM. Currents were obtained from several models (NOAA Gulf of Mexico, West Florida Shelf/USF, TGLO/TAMU, NAVO/NRL) and HFR measurements. The model was initialized from Monday satellite imagery analysis (NOAA/NESDIS) and Monday overflights. The leading edge may contain tarballs that are not readily observable from the imagery (hence not included in the model initialization). Oil near bay inlets could be brought into that bay by local tidal currents.
Moderate to strong (15-22 kts) winds, predominantly from the SE, are forecast throughout this forecast period. The coastlines of MS, AL, and the FL panhandle west of Pensacola continue to be threatened by shoreline contacts. Overflights from Sunday and Monday have observed little floating oil outside the source region; however this may be due in part to poor observing conditions. For Louisiana, models continue to show winds and currents moving oil from the source region west around the Delta and then to the north, with potential new shoreline oiling in the area between Barataria Bay and Caillou Bay. Further west, only scattered sheens have been observed on recent overflights, but satellite-based observations from Monday indicate possible small patches of oil south of Vermillion Bay. Models indicate that oil in this region will be subject to rapid westward movement by strong coastal currents which could result in scattered tarball impacts to Texas.
Weather Summary:
A tropical wave over the Yucatan Peninsula has been given a 30% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours as it moves northwestward over the Gulf of Mexico. Computer models are expecting this storm to move inland in southern Texas within the next 3 days.
Current Situation:
Florida beaches are open.
Estimated release rate of oil from Deepwater Horizon at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. Optimization of the dual recovery system (LMRP Cap and Q4000) continues; total oil recovered approximately 24,955 barrels on 7/05/10.
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.
- More than 45,000 personnel are working the on and offshore response.
- Oil-water mix recovered: nearly 28.6 million gallons
- Response vessels available: more than 6,920
- Response aircraft available: 109
- Dispersant (in gallons): more than 1.71 million deployed
- There is no planned use of dispersants in Florida waters.
Florida Specific:
Health Effects: Oil Impact notice postings: Escambia County, all Gulf side beaches; Walton County, all Gulf beaches.
Tar balls, tar patties and sheen have been reported in Northwest Florida, though fewer impacts have been observed due to westward-moving winds and currents.
Pensacola Pass as well as Perdido Pass will continue to be closed with the tide to reduce the amount of oil from entering inland waters. These waterways are manned to allow access to necessary vessel traffic during low tide.
Oil Containment Boom (in feet) total: 701,161 deployed in Florida. (Tier 1 & Tier 2: 419,600/ Tier 3: 281,561)
In accordance with established plans, protective booming, staging, and boom maintenance is being conducted along the coast from Escambia to Franklin.
- 244 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.
- 1,449 Qualified Community Responders are actively working in the Florida Panhandle.
Federal Fishery closure, west of Cape San Blas to state line. (see NOAA FB10-059).
In addition to $100,000 for Volunteer Florida to maintain a volunteer registration database, BP has issued over $75 million in grants to Florida for booming, a national tourism advertising campaign, and the state’s preparedness and response efforts. An additional $500,000 has been issued by BP to fund two innovative technology solutions for Okaloosa County.
BP claims in Florida total 27,771 with approximately $23,571,988.93 paid.
Florida Information Lines:
The Florida Oil Spill Information Line (FOSIL) is available from 8am-6pm EDT daily.
- English – (888) 337-3569
- Haitian Creole – (877) 955-8707
- Spanish – (877) 955-8773
- TDD – (800) 955-8771
- Voice – (800) 955-8770
For general health/exposures information questions related to the oil spill, contact the Florida Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222.
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
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.
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: http://gulfrecoveryjobs.employflorida.com/
NOAA GeoPlatform, response management application: http://www.geoplatform.gov/gulfresponse/
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, 10-106 and 10-132 declared a state of emergency for identified counties along the Florida coast.
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.
The Governor activated Florida’s Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program to provide emergency, short-term loans to established small businesses in 26 designated counties.
Conducting daily conference calls with county and emergency management partners, the Federal On-Scene Coordinator, and various Unified Commands.
FEMA is assisting SERT with streamlining financial reimbursement processing.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) executive order (EO 10-29) temporarily closes a portion of coastal state waters offshore of Escambia County to the harvest of saltwater fish, crabs and shrimp. Recreational catch and release is allowed.
- A SERT Toxicological Data Analysis Cell is providing consistent scientific assessments of collected data sampling to inform local/state decision making.
- The Agency for Workforce Innovation and Regional Workforce Boards are identifying and filling jobs related to the oil spill: 11,605 positions advertised; 32,987 applicants referred.
- 97 Florida National Guard personnel on duty at various duty posts in the Deepwater Horizon area of operations.
- 18,533 volunteers have registered to respond to Deepwater Horizon. 20,831 volunteer hours have been worked.
Conducting daily reconnaissance flights and shoreline patrol from Escambia to Franklin Counties for impact. Real time reconnaissance reports are being entered into GATOR.
Currently, there is 1 recreational vessel decontamination site with 2 under construction. An additional 13 sites are in negotiations with BP and a total of 44 sites have been approved by DEP, Counties and Cities.
Recovered Oiled Birds:
See the consolidated wildlife report updated by noon each day: http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963
The Boom Coordination Cell continues to coordinate additional boom requests. The Innovative Technology Cell continues to assess alternative clean-up technologies suggested by the public and stakeholders.
The Small Business Administration has issued an Economic Injury Disaster Loan Declaration for the State of Florida. Disaster Loan Outreach Centers are open in 8 counties.
Loan Applications:
- Issued: 513 Accepted: 134 Declined: 43 Approved: 23
- Loan amount approved: $2,553,400.00
Local States of Emergency
- Escambia: Expires on 7/07/10
- Santa Rosa: Expires on 7/09/10
- Okaloosa: Concurrent with State
- Walton: Expires on 7/09/10
- Bay: Expires on 7/08/10
- Gulf: Expires on 7/06/10
- Franklin: Expires on 7/12/10
- Wakulla: Expires on 7/12/10
- Jefferson: Expires on 7/08/10
- Dixie: Expires on 7/08/10
- Sarasota: Expires on 7/12/10
County EOC Activations
- Escambia, Level 2 (Partial)
- Santa Rosa, Level 2 (Partial)
- Okaloosa, Level 2 (Partial)
- Walton, Level 2 (Partial)
- Bay, Level 2 (Partial)
- Gulf, Level 2 (Partial)
- Franklin, Level 2 (Partial)
- Wakulla, Level 2 (Partial)
Topics: 2010, beaches, BP, British Petroleum, business, coastline, Deepwater Horizon, Economy, emergency response, environment, environmental impact, fishing, Florida, Florida seafood products, GOHSEP, Governance, government, Governor Charlie Crist, Gulf of Mexico, gulf oil map, July 6, 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, Panhandle, Pensacola Beach, Pensacola Pass, pollution, President Obama, relief wells, tourism, Transocean, U.S., United States, VISIT FLORIDA marketing campaign, White House, www.visitflorida.com
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