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Panama City beaches largely clear this weekend
BP contractors and cleanup crews collected only a small amount of oil product over the weekend, as persistent easterly winds kept oil off Panama City beaches. State emergency officials reported a few tarballs, an oily bottle and a small amount of sheen south of Tyndall Air Force Base. Click here to view the SERT GATOR map.
From NOAA: Winds are forecast to be predominantly easterly (E/ESE) through Monday at speeds of 8-14 knots. The northern edge of the slick continues to move northwest threatening the barrier islands of Mississippi/Alabama and the Florida Panhandle east to Freeport, Florida. The Chandeleur Islands, Breton Sound and the Mississippi Delta are also threatened by shoreline contacts in this forecast period. An overflight today observed dark brown oil south of the Delta (within ~7 miles of Southwest pass) -- westward currents are moving oil from this region west towards Terrebonne Bay.
From DEP: Moderate southeasterly winds 5-10 knots today through Tuesday with a 20-30 percent chance of rain offshore today, increasing to 50 percent by Tuesday. Waves will be moving north through Tuesday, increasing in height each day. Tropical Storm Alex began to move across the Yucatan Peninsula last night and was expected to reach the Gulf of Mexico by this afternoon. The majority of the computer models, including the National Hurricane Center, are forecasting Alex to move towards the west-northwest and impact the coastline near the Texas-Mexico border later this week. The system is also forecasted to increase slightly in intensity as it moves across the warm water of the Gulf of Mexico before making landfall. |
Pass protection project under way
By Friday afternoon, crews had driven 11 of 18 free-standing pilings (of a total of 54 pilings) in a project aimed at protecting St. Andrew Bay from oil from the continuing Deepwater Horizon oil release.
The boom system is comprised of 18 42-inch free-standing steel pilings and eight pile "dolphins" (each consisting of three pilings attached together with a cap on them). The total of 54 pilings vary in length depending on the depth of the water, and extend at least 10 feet above the mean high tide level and about half their entire length is buried below the bay's floor. The boom is made 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.
The more "robust" booming project evolved after it became apparent that more conventional booming plans to the west are ineffective. Bay County engineers worked with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Coast Guard, AshBritt -- a Florida-based disaster recovery company, and various engineers to develop and gain federal approval of the plan.
Boaters are asked to exercise caution when traveling through the pass. The project will take approximately three weeks from now to complete.
BP Vice President Bryant Chapman, at a Wednesday meeting with officials from several Panhandle counties, committed to funding Bay County's pass project, estimated to cost about $2.8 million to construct and another $8,300 per day to manage. The Tier 1, 2 and 3 booming plans will still be exercised, Bowen said.
As of Friday afternoon, workers had driven 11 pilings in a project to protect St. Andrew Pass.  |
The Bay County Commission approved a plan to protect the St. Andrew Pass Tuesday. Click on the photo to download a .pdf of the plan.  |
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Decon stations available offshore
Two decontamination stations inside the bay for recreational vessels are being identified, though they are not built out, according to U.S. Coast Guard Commander Mike Frender. Two decontamination stations are also staged in the gulf, with one located three miles south of the St. Andrews Pass and another seven miles south of the pass. Those stations are for commercial, military, response and recreational vessels that are actively sheening as a result of contact with oil product. Once they are operable, mariners should avoid using the stations inside the bay if possible and should make every attempt to utilize the stations in the Gulf, Frender said. Boaters whose vessels may have been affected by contact with oil may contact the U.S. Coast Guard on their VHF radios at Channel 16 or Channel 71. A new website, created by BP, lists vessel decontamination locations within the U.S. Coast Guard Mobile Sector for oiled boats.
In other news:
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 should 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.
-- 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.
-- 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. 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 here or here. An online mapping resource that contains up-to-date health advisory information for Florida's beach waters can be viewed here.
-- To report oil on the beach, a suspicious odor, oiled wildlife or for information about the oil release, please call (850) 248-6030.
-- BP's local claims office is located at 7938 Front Beach Road, in the shopping plaza near 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. |
NOAA expands closure of federal fishing waters
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration on Wednesday again modified commercial and recreational fishing closures in the oil-affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico.
Current revisions to the closure are described in this attachment. All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area; however, transit through the area is allowed. |
Oil spill employment opportunities available
A new state website - Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs - allows job seekers to locate and apply for positions created to manage the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The site currently lists some 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.
Click here to view archived E-mail updates. |
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Bay County will continue to strive to provide residents and visitors with the most current information.
Sincerely,
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Bay County Public Information Officer Valerie Lovett
Bay County Board of County Commissioners |
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