Florida Deepwater Horizon Response June 16, 2010-No Planned Use of Dispersants in Florida Waters

Under the leadership of 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 to date, as well as tips for residents and visitors to take precautions both pre and post-landfall.   

Weather Summary:

Relatively weak winds (up to 10 knots), low seas (below 2 feet) and low rain chances are expected to continue through the next 3 days, which will be favorable for surface oil recovery operations. Winds are light and variable but are expected to turn west-southwesterly in the afternoons. A tropical wave in the central Atlantic has a 10% chance of becoming a tropical cyclone in the next 48 hours.

Current Situation:

• Florida beaches are open.
• Unified Area Command estimates release rate of oil from Deepwater Horizon at  35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. The containment dome is recovering approximately 15,000 barrels of oil and burning off millions of cubic feet of natural gas 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.
• More than 29,000 personnel are working the on and offshore response.
• Oil-water mix recovered: approximately 21.1 million gallons
• Response vessels available: more than 6,490
• Response aircraft available: 95
• Dispersant (in gallons): approximately 1,298,000 deployed
• There is no planned use of dispersants in Florida waters.

Florida Specific:

Reconnaissance missions are ongoing. On June 14, as of noon, light sheen, streamers of weathered oil and tar balls were detected within five miles of Pensacola Pass.

On June 14, dime to five inch-sized tar balls and tar patties were found in widely scattered areas of Northwest Florida. The heaviest impacts have been seen from Escambia County to Santa Rosa County.

Perdido Pass and Pensacola Pass are being closed with the tide to prevent 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: 355,810 deployed in Florida. Tier 1: 185,100 / Tier 2: 123,500 / Tier 3: 47,210

In accordance with established plans, protective booming, staging, and boom maintenance is being conducted along the coast from Escambia to Franklin.

302 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.

302 Qualified Community Responders are actively working the cleanup efforts in the Florida Panhandle.

According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume remains 62 miles from Mexico Beach and 240 miles from St. Petersburg, with non contiguous sheens and scattered tarballs closer. Coastal regions near and west of Panama City may experience shoreline impacts by Friday.

Scattered patches of sheen and tarballs remain in the Loop Current Ring. There is evidence that the Loop Current Ring has detached from the Loop Current, meaning that any scattered patches of sheen and tarballs will likely remain in the Loop Current Ring.

BP provided a $100,000 grant through a Memorandum of Understanding with Volunteer Florida to maintain a database for the registration of volunteers.  BP issued a $25 million block grant to Florida; first priority is booming. BP issued a second $25 million grant to Florida for a national tourism advertising campaign. BP issued another $25 million to Florida for the state’s preparedness and response efforts.

BP claims in Florida total 13,978 with approximately $11,248,856.44 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.

Landfall Reports and Predictions:

On June 16, Ft Walton Beach – In response to oil mousse, tar mats, and extensive tar balls, the Okaloosa County Health Department in coordination with Okaloosa County Public Safety issued a health advisory for the following beach waters in Okaloosa County: Okaloosa Island from the Eglin property line (by the El Matador Condominiums on Santa Rosa Blvd), through the eastern boundary of Beasley Park

On June 15, dime to five inch-sized tar balls and tar patties were found in widely scattered areas of Northwest Florida. The heaviest impacts have been seen from Escambia County to Santa Rosa County.

Perdido Pass and Pensacola Pass will be closed with the tide to prevent oil from entering inland waters. Boom will be deployed across each Pass at flood tide (water coming in) and removed at ebb tide (water going out).

Boaters in areas where skimming is being conducted, or where boom has been set, have been requested to maintain no-wake speeds.

Based on oil activity recently, the United States Coast Guard’s Captain of the Port for Sector

Mobile authorized the official closure of Perdido Pass and Pensacola Pass. These waterways will be manned to allow access to necessary vessel traffic. Perdido Pass and Pensacola Pass will be open for vessel traffic during low tide. See NOAA tide predictions.

Boat traffic needing access in or out of boom locations, should call 1-850-736-2261.

A flashing light has been attached to all boom to increase visibility to boaters.

According to NOAA projections, additional impacts are expected throughout northwest Florida within the next 72 hours due to onshore winds.

The majority of impacts to Florida’s shoreline will likely be highly weathered, in the form of tar balls, oil sheen, tar mats or mousse – a pudding-like oil/water mixture that could be brown, rust or orange in color.

Observations by NOAA continue to indicate no significant amounts of oil moving toward the Loop Current. The Loop Current Ring, a circular current which was formerly part of the Loop Current and contains a small portion of oil slick in the form of light sheens, has detached again from the main Loop Current.

There have been no reports of Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill-related oil products reaching the shore beyond the northwest Florida region. There is no indication that the rest of the state will have impacts from weathered oil products within the next 72 hours.

Learn more at the NOAA website. If oil is sighted on Florida’s coastline report it to the State Warning Point at 1-877-2-SAVE-FL (1-877-272-8335) or by dialing #DEP from most cell phones.

On Site Actions:

Current projections estimate Deepwater Horizon’s discharge at 35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day.

BP has placed a Lower Marine Riser Package (LMRP) Cap Containment System in an attempt to contain the leak and capture a substantial amount of the leaking oil. On June 15, 10,440 barrels of oil were captured from the LMRP Cap Containment System. BP is continuing efforts to drill two relief wells.

State Actions:

The State Emergency Operations Center is activated at Level 1.

On June 15, Deepwater Horizon Unified Command directed the establishment of three Deputy Incident Commanders to lead oil impact mitigation and cleanup efforts in Alabama, Mississippi and Florida. In addition, Deepwater Horizon Unified Command directed the creation of an Incident Management Team to be located in Tallahassee. This team will report to Mobile, Alabama, Incident Command Post. Learn more.

On June 13, the FWC 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.

The closure includes state waters from the beaches out nine nautical miles into the Gulf from the Alabama line east to the Pensacola Beach water tower. Interior bays and estuaries remain open to fishing.

This area covers approximately 23 miles of Florida’s coastline in Escambia County, where oil spill is now present.

Recreational catch-and-release fishing is still allowed as long as saltwater fish are not harvested or possessed in the closed area. Oysters, clams and mussels are not included in the closure, because they are not expected to be affected by oil in the area. 

On June 10, DEP issued an Amended Emergency Final Order to accelerate preparedness and restoration in the counties under the Governor’s state-of-emergency Executive Orders.

On June 10, Deepwater Horizon Unified Command announced the activation of the Florida Peninsula Command Post in Miami. Learn more.

Governor Crist has issued three Executive Orders since April 30, 2010 declaring a state of emergency in 26 coastal counties that may see impacts.

DEP conducted water and sediment sampling to use as a baseline and is monitoring air quality data. Statewide air quality monitoring is conducted in coordination with the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Learn more at www.airnow.gov/ or www.epa.gov/bpspill/.

Air quality reports for June 15 revealed that air quality was considered good for ozone and moderate for fine particulate matter in northwest Florida. “Good” means the air quality is satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk. “Moderate” means air quality is acceptable for most people.

Boom Placement:

Approximately 308,600 feet of boom has been placed in northwest Florida along the most sensitive areas and 56,050 feet is staged. Additionally, counties in the region are moving forward with supplemental booming plans. As of June 15, 227,560 feet of supplemental boom has been deployed or staged by Florida contractors.

Placement of boom is based on where the oil is threatening, as well as each region’s area contingency plan.

Health Effects:

The Florida Department of Health, in coordination with DEP and VISITFLORIDA has developed an online mapping resource that contains the most up-to-date health advisory information for Florida’s beach waters. Visitors are encouraged to visit www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/health.htm  or www.visitflorida.com/florida_travel_advisory/

On June 8, Escambia County Health Department, in coordination with Escambia County Emergency Management and local officials posted a health advisory for the area extending from the Florida-Alabama state line to the entrance of the Perdido Unit, Gulf Islands National Seashore. Learn more.

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.

For general health information questions regarding the oil-spill and exposure to oil spill products contact the Florida Poison Information Centers at 1-800-222-1222.

DOH has compiled guidelines for managing stress and preventing heat related injuries for those impacted by the oil spill or involved in cleanup activities. Learn more.

Fisheries & Seafood:

• On June 8, NOAA adjusted the boundaries of the previously closed fishing area, opening 339 square miles off of northwest Florida, with the northern boundary now ending at the Florida federal-state water line on the east side of Choctawhatchee Bay. Learn more.
• While state waters off the coast of Escambia County are closed for the harvest of saltwater fish, crabs and shrimp, all other state waters remain open to recreational fishing.
• Fishermen who wish to contact BP about a claim should call 1-800-440-0858.
• To report oiled wildlife, please call 1-866-557-1401 and leave a message. Messages are checked hourly.
• For the safety of the public as well as the safety of animals, rescues should only be conducted by trained responders.  

SERT Personnel – Location Personnel

• Mobile Unified Command, Forward-State Emergency Response Team 22
• Florida Peninsula Command, Miami 5
• Area Command in Robert, Louisiana 2
• St. Petersburg Branch 1
• Escambia 1
• Santa Rosa 1

A 5-7 member Federal Resource Coordinator (FRC) team from FEMA is assisting the State Emergency Response Team (SERT) with streamlining financial reimbursement processing.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) issued a partial harvesting closure of saltwater fish and marine vertebrates (does not apply to oysters, clams, and mussels). This closure covers state waters from the Alabama state line east to the Pensacola Beach water tower (23 miles east and out 9 nautical miles from coastline) from 6/14/10 until modified by a subsequent FWC executive order.

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: 5,086 positions advertised, 10,085 applicants referred and 538 individuals employed.

27 Florida National Guard (FLNG) personnel on duty; 5 plans personnel are working on scene at the SEOC.

13,790 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.

36 oiled birds have been recovered by FWC to date, 2 were released.

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: 331 Accepted: 72 Declined: 14 Approved: 2

Loan amount approved: $255,000.00

• 06/16/2010 – Health advisory issued for portion of beach in Okaloosa County due to oil spill [PDF 58KB]
• 06/16/2010 – 12:00 p.m. – Deepwater Horizon Situation Report 49 [PDF 138KB]
• 06/16/2010 – 10:00 a.m. – Florida Deepwater Horizon Response [PDF 143KB]
• 06/15/10 – Governor Crist Announces Free Fishing Weekend in Honor of Father’s Day [PDF 121KB]
• 06/15/2010 – 12:00 p.m. – Deepwater Horizon Situation Report 48 [PDF 138KB]

• 06/15/2010 – 10:00 a.m. – Florida Deepwater Horizon Response [PDF 146KB]