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June 22, 2010
Deepwater Horizon oil release update
Bay County to construct "robust" booming system for pass
 
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In This Issue
BOCC approves pass plan
NOAA expands fishing closure
Weather updates
CFO offers bulletin for businesses
State launches new oil spill Web site
Vist Bay County Web site
BP claims, outreach offices open
Bay County Commission approves pass plan
  
Work on a reinforced, "robust" booming system for the St. Andrew Pass will begin tomorrow morning after the Bay County Commission unanimously approved the plan at a special meeting Tuesday afternoon.
 
Crews are to begin driving the first of 18 42-inch steel pilings and eight pile dolphins (each consisting of three pilings attached together with a cap on them). The pilings vary in length depending on the depth of the water, and extend at least 10 feet above the mean high tide level. The boom is comprised of 30-inch diameter, two-inch thick high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe and will have a 48-inch long HDPE fabric weighted skirt hanging below the pipe.
 
In the middle of the channel, a 400-foot hinged boom gate will allow for opening or closing the pass and diverting the oil products to the sides, where skimming vessels will be used on either side of the project to collect oil.
 
The hinged boom in the center of the pass will allow boat traffic to come and go with the outgoing tide and will be closed to traffic with the incoming tide, if oil is actively being removed from the area.
 
"One of the major lessons we've learned," Bay County Public Works Director Ken Schnell said, "is that the conventional booming to the west of us has been very difficult to maintain in open channels."
 
Bay County worked with AshBritt, a Florida-based disaster response company, to develop the rigid booming plan for the pass. Bay County engineers as well as ocean and coastal engineers devised the plan.
 
The overall cost for the project is $2.8 million, with an operational and maintenance cost of $8,300 per day, Schnell said. Assuming cooperative weather, it would take 24 days from tomorrow to complete.
 
Bay County has worked in concert with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Port Authority and other stakeholders to coordinate this plan. Permit applications were submitted Friday, Schnell said.
 
"We still anticipate that with a push from the Coast Guard, we should have a permit today," Schnell told the board. "We have the equipment in place to start driving pile."
 
The new, rigid booming plan evolved after various booming strategies to the west have not been sufficient, though funding the operation, for now, is coming out of county coffers. Bay County Emergency Services Chief Mark Bowen said none of the state or federal agencies have given any negative feedback about the plan and he's optimistic that the county will be reimbursed.
 
"Everything that can be done has been done," he said. "We may well see approval come well before we finish this project."
 
The Tier 1, 2 and 3 booming plans will still be exercised, Bowen said, and up to 28 additional skimmers of varying types are available if necessary.
 
Bay County will begin work on a rigid booming system for the St. Andrew Pass tomorrow.
Plan for St. Andrew Pass
 
In other news:
 
-- On Tuesday, only a handful of tarball sightings were reported to the Bay County Emergency Operations Center, though BP contractors continued to monitor and work on the beaches. All Bay County beaches remain open.
 
-- The Florida Association of Counties will host a meeting with U.S. Coast Guard Captain Steve Poulin, Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Mike Sole and commissioners, administrators and emergency directors from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin and Wakulla counties. The meeting will be held at 3 p.m. at the Emerald Coast Conference Center, 1250 Miracle Strip Parkway Southeast, Fort Walton Beach, Florida 32548. The roundtable discussion will focus on the efforts being made to respond to the Deepwater horizon incident along with questions counties have regarding issues such as communications, claims and the response model. A live video webstream of the meeting will be available here.
 
-- 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 [email protected]. Oiled wildlife may also be reported to the local Bay County hotline at 248-6030.
  
-- The public is asked 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, as the emergency response system is for life-and-death situations, and Unified Command can better respond to beach cleanup requests if the local number is used.
 
-- 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.
NOAA expands closure of federal fishing waters
 
NOAA on Monday modified the commercial and recreational fishing closure in the oil-affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico. This closure (see map) was effective at 5 p.m. All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area; however, transit through the area is allowed. The closure measures 86,985 sq mi (225,290 sq km) and covers about 36 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone. The majority of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico are open to commercial and recreational fishing. Any changes to the closure are announced daily at 12 p.m. Eastern at sero.nmfs.noaa.gov and take effect at 6 p.m. Eastern the same day.
Weather updates  
 
This Afternoon: A 50 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 89. South southeast wind around 10 mph. New rainfall amounts of less than a tenth of an inch, except higher amounts possible in thunderstorms.

Tonight: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. Southeast wind around 5 mph.

Wednesday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Partly cloudy, with a high near 90. East wind around 5 mph becoming south.

Wednesday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 76. South southwest wind around 5 mph becoming calm. 
 
Oil Spill Forecast
 
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, Alabama and Panama City, Florida 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. 

 
Florida CFO Alex Sink offers oil spill bulletin for businesses
 
Florida CFO Alex Sink today published a special edition of her Consumer eViews newsletter to offer impacted small businesses in Florida information on how to deal with the effects of the BP oil spill, including how to file a claim and how to prepare should oil be brought inland with a hurricane this storm season. Floridians can access the special eViews newsletter by clicking here.
 
"Floridians have so many questions, and with information available on a number of websites and in different forms, this is a special bulletin to help our employers and small businesses find the information they need easily and get help as soon as possible," said CFO Sink. "Whether you need an emergency loan, are looking for one of the Gulf oil recovery jobs, or need to know how to file a claim with BP, the information in our special bulletin will help navigate the assistance that has become available." 
 
For more information on CFO Sink's actions regarding the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, visit: www.myfloridacfo.com/OilSpill.
State launches new oil spill employment Web site 
 
Florida has announced a new website - Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs - which will allow job seekers to locate and apply for positions created to manage the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The site will act as a dedicated portal through the state's official online job bank Employ Florida Marketplace. The Marketplace, which has been live since 2005, is currently listing over 3,500 positions related to the oil spill response effort along with other job openings across the state.
 
Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs is a joint venture between Workforce Florida Inc. and the Agency for Workforce Innovation. These two entities will work together with 24 regional workforce boards statewide to coordinate everything through the single website. The state hopes that the new site will be the go-to location for job seekers and employers for employment information that is fully verified.
 
The site will also serve as a place to house and use training information for the specialized skills needed for many of these positions. Over 2,400 workers have already been trained for oil spill related positions. The state also set up 93 local One-Stop Career Centers which work in tandem with the site to provide Floridians with employment and training information.
 
Floridians may also call 1-877-362-5034 to learn more about available jobs related to response and recovery efforts.
Visit Bay County Web site for additional information 
 
Unified Command produces an incident action plan (IAP) every 48 hours weekdays on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The IAP contains the newest information regarding the release response in red so that it is easily discernable from more dated information. The IAP is the best way for the general public to keep abreast of all the latest news concerning the oil release. These are posted to the county's Web site for public review as soon as they are prepared and provide the most current information about the oil release.
 
To view the latest IAP, click here. You may also call the EOC information hotline at (850) 248-6030 for information.
 
Click here to visit the Bay County Web site.
 
BP claims, outreach offices open
 
BP has opened a claims office at 7938 Front Beach Road, located in the shopping plaza adjacent to the Bay Street Deli. Business owners and those who have been affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil release may use this as a resource for recouping their financial losses. BP advises that people filing claims should still call the toll-free number to enter their information into the claims database. That number is (800) 440-0858.
 
BP also has opened a community support office located at 3101 U.S. 98, across the street from Howell Marine and Tackle Supply. At this office, BP can provide information about the oil release and answer community questions.
 
Bay County continues to monitor the release and work with the U.S. Coast Guard in the ongoing effort to prepare for any effects of the oil release that may be realized here. For more information about the release and efforts being made to contain it, visit www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com.  
 
Bay County will continue to strive to provide residents and visitors with the most current information.
 
Sincerely,
 

Bay County Public Information Officer Valerie Lovett
Bay County Board of County Commissioners