Florida Releases June 21, 2010 Gulf Oil Spill Situation Update
According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume remains 34 miles from Mexico Beach and 222 miles from St. Petersburg.
The NOAA trajectories indicate an almost stationary movement of the oil slick through Tuesday before a slow retreat to the west-northwest by Wednesday.
The Florida Panhandle will continue to be threatened by shoreline impacts as far east as Panama City through Wednesday as tidal influences and southeast winds could continue to push sections of oil towards the coast.
The Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission has issued an executive order to temporarily close a portion of coastal state waters offshore of Escambia County to the harvest of saltwater fish, crabs and shrimp, learn more.
Currently, all other state waters remain open to recreational fishing.
While there are currently no health advisories in effect, if residents or visitors see tar or oiled debris on the beach, DO NOT PICK IT UP. For most people, an occasional brief contact with a small amount of oil will do no harm, yet still it is not recommended. Learn more.
At this time, there are no beach closures and the majority of Florida’s state waters remain open to recreational fishing. Florida’s 825 miles of beaches, 1,260 miles of coastline and 14 seaports, including cruise ships, remain open for business.
Map of BP Oil Spill as of June 21, 2010. Click on images for larger picture.
This forecast is based on the NWS spot forecast from Sunday, June 20 PM. Currents were obtained from several models (West Florida Shelf/USF, TGLO/TAMU, NAVO/NRL) and HFR measurements. The model was initialized from Sunday satellite imagery analysis (NOAA/NESDIS) and overflight observations.
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. Winds are forecast to continue to be 10 knots or less and primarily from the E to SE, through Wednesday.
Trajectories indicate continued slow movement of the slick to the east. Coastal regions between Dauphin Island, AL and Panama City, FL continue to be threatened by shoreline contacts within this forecast period.
More persistent SE winds later in the forecast period will increase the threat of shoreline impacts to the Chandeleur Islands and the Mississippi Delta during the latter half of the coming week.
Weather Summary:
Winds will shift from a southeasterly direction this afternoon as the sea breeze moves inland, but a general east to southeast wind flow between 5 and 15 knots is forecast to continue across the north-central Gulf operations area through much of this week.
Offshore, a portion of the Loop Current Ring has re-attached to the Loop Current Channel. However, observations continue to indicate no significant amounts of oil well away from the well site.
A tropical wave moving westward is producing a large area of disorganized storm activity. There is a low (20%) chance of this becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours.
Current Situation:
Unified Area Command estimates 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 23,290 barrels.
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 33,000 personnel are working the on and offshore response.
- Oil-water mix recovered: approximately 23.9 million gallons
- Response vessels available: more than 5,900
- Response aircraft available: 106
- Dispersant (in gallons): approximately 1,427,000 deployed
- There is no planned use of dispersants in Florida waters.
Florida Specific:
Dime to five inch-sized tar balls and tar patties continue to be found in northwest Florida.
Perdido Pass, Pensacola Pass and Destin Pass will be closed with the tide to reduce the amount of oil from entering inland waters. Boom will be deployed across each Pass at flood tide (incoming) and removed at ebb tide (outgoing).
Oil Containment Boom (in feet) total: 481,600 deployed in Florida. (Tier 1: 194,700 / Tier 2: 132,800 / Tier 3: 154,100)
In accordance with established plans, protective booming, staging, and boom maintenance is being conducted along the coast from Escambia to Franklin.
- 381 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.
- 712 Qualified Community Responders are actively working the cleanup efforts in the Florida Panhandle.
In addition to $100,000 for Volunteer Florida to maintain a database for the registration of volunteers, 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.
BP claims in Florida total 17,083 with approximately $15,221,896.03 paid.
The fishery failure declaration for the Gulf of Mexico includes Florida, providing 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 for citizens’ questions at (888) 337-3569.
For general health/exposures information questions related to the oil spill, contact the Florida Poison Control Center at 1-800-222-1222.
Two public hotline numbers for oil spill investigation and cleanup:
- Impacted Wildlife: (866) 557-1401
- Oiled Shoreline: 1 (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.
Florida Information Websites:
Volunteer registration: www.VolunteerFlorida.org and click “Register to Help”
Health/environmental 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/
Federal Information Websites:
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 from the loss of commerce and revenues due to the oil spill.
Governor Charlie Crist 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 now located at the SEOC to provide consistent scientific analysis and assessment of collected data sampling to inform local and state decision making.
The Agency for Workforce Innovation and Regional Workforce Boards are identifying and filling jobs related to the oil spill: 5,889 positions advertised, 13,687 applicants referred. Per BP: 3,277 individuals trained/available to work.
- 83 Florida National Guard (FLNG) personnel on duty; 5 plans personnel are working on scene at the SEOC.
- 14,546 volunteers have registered to respond to Deepwater Horizon. Business, Industry, and Economic Development has launched a national radio and print advertising campaign for Florida tourism.
Conducting daily reconnaissance flights and shoreline patrol from Escambia to Gulf counties for impact. Real time reconnaissance reports are being entered into GATOR.
Visibly oiled wildlife recovered, table does not include marine mammals or turtles:
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: 382 Accepted: 95 Declined: 17 Approved: 5
- Loan amount approved: $514,700
Local States of Emergency
- Escambia: Expires on 6/25/10
- Santa Rosa: Expires on 6/25/10
- Okaloosa: Concurrent with State
- Walton: Expires on 6/25/10
- Bay: Expires on 6/24/10
- Gulf: Expires on 6/21/10
- Franklin: Expires on 6/21/10
- Wakulla: Expires on 6/21/10
- Dixie: Expires on 6/24/10
- Sarasota: Expires on 6/21/10
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, Halliburton, June 21, landfall predictions, loans, moniter, monitor, news, noaa oil spill, Obama Administration, oil loop current, Oil Rig, oil spill, oil spill forecast, oil spill map, Panhandle, Pensacola Pass, pollution, President Obama, tourism, Transocean, U.S., United States, VISIT FLORIDA marketing campaign, White House, www.visitflorida.com
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