Bay County Deepwater Horizon update

BP contractors and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency personnel responded to reports of tarballs washing ashore in the "Kiddie Pool" at St. Andrews State Park Monday afternoon. About 100 tarballs showed up in the area.

"Tarballs are roughly the same specific gravity as water," Bay County Emergency Services Chief Mark Bowen said. "They go where they are going to go, and no skimmer or boom is going to prevent that."

Bowen said BP contractors continued to respond to scattered reports of tarballs washing up on Panama City Beach.

According to a U.S. Coast Guard report, tarballs have washed ashore as far east as Crooked Island.

Bay County Sheriff Frank McKeithen provided a helicopter flyover Monday morning at the request of the Coast Guard, said Bowen, who participated.

"We flew seven miles out, east to the Walton County line," he said, "and we saw nothing." He said severe storms last night may have helped push the oil farther south. He said the oil sheen that was about five miles south of Lake Powell Sunday was nowhere in sight Monday morning.

Bowen said BP contractors remain sufficiently responsive to the beach cleanup requests.

"Right now, they're able to keep up with the work," Bowen said. "My concern is, as this expands, if it expands, right now they are right there out ahead of it -- I want them to be way, way, way ahead of it."

He said Bay County is continuing to improve communications with BP contractors in an effort to ensure the most timely response to oil-related calls.

All Bay County beaches remain open.

Other actions:

Total Deployed Boom in Bay County:

- Tier 1 Boom 100% completed.
- BP to deploy 2,500 ft of diversion boom out of west jetty at 0800 (June 21, 2010).
- Approximately 399,450 feet of boom has been placed in Florida along the most sensitive areas of the Panhandle, and counties in the region are moving forward with supplemental booming plans.
- Tier 1: 177,300 / Tier 2: 125,800 / Tier 3: 96,350
- As of June 20, 274,361 feet of supplemental boom has been deployed or staged by Florida contractors.

BP has contracted TriState Bird Rescue and Research to perform all oiled wildlife rehabilitation for the event. There is a stabilization center in Panama City. If people see oiled wildlife, they need to report it to the oiled wildlife hotline 866-557-1401. BP has contracted responders who are to respond to reports within an hour of the call being received, according to a statement from the state Emergency Operations Center. Problems with response times may be reported to eocw@myfwc.com. Oiled wildlife may also be reported to the local Bay County hotline at 248-6030.

An oiled pied-billed grebe was found on west Penama City Beach Saturday. It was turned over to Tri-State for triage in Panama City and then transported to Pensacola for recovery.

Bowen encouraged the public to report suspected oil sightings on Bay County shores or in the Gulf to Bay County's hotline at (850) 248-6030, rather than calling 9-1-1.

"The 9-1-1 system is for life-and-death emergencies," Bowen said. "While the oil is an emegency as well, we don't want to tie up our 9-1-1 operators if we don't have to. We can better respond to the situation if people call the hotline."

Click here to visit NOAA trajectories.

The state Department of Environmental Protection and the state Department of Health continue to conduct water and air quality sampling. To learn more about the sampling and for health advisories concerning the Deepwater Horizon oil release, click here.

To report oil on the beach, a suspicious odor, oiled wildlife or for information about the oil release, please call (850) 248-6030.