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July 7, 2010
Deepwater Horizon oil release update
Crews to begin boom deployment at pass
 
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In This Issue
Boom attachment to begin soon
Bay beaches clear
Weather updates
Fishery closure changes
Vist Bay County Web site
Workers to begin boom attachment 
  
Rough seas prevented contractors from attaching the first stretch of boom to pilings in the pass on Wednesday, but Bay County Public Works Director Ken Schnell said the effort will resume Thursday afternoon, weather permitting.
 
"Boom deployment has been postponed for today due to sea conditions," Schnell said. "It is rescheduled for tomorrow afternoon and this first 600-foot section will be attached on the state park side. We've got to have a slack tide."
 
Schnell said three of eight dolphin pilings have been completed, and the pile driving is currently ahead of schedule. Boom construction, he said, is slightly behind schedule.
 
"They're still working 24 hours a day on that. It's been a learning process manufacturing it, so we expect production to get much faster," he said.
 
He said additional manpower was brought on board Wednesday, and he believes the July 16 completion target for the project is still attainable.
 
A tugboat will pull the first 600-foot section of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe boom to the pass, and crews will attach it to the west pilings. Each side of the project will have two 600-foot boom attachments -- connected by a flange bolt, with a 400-foot gate in the middle, for a total of 2800 feet of boom across the pass.

Schnell said the boom seems to be functional, so far.
 
"It's very heavy, but it floats well," he said. "The skirt hangs well, and that part we're very satisfied with. We still have to get it out there and test it, though."
 
Once the system is tested; however, it will likely be staged nearby to reduce congestion in the pass if the oil remains a safe distance away.
 
The boom system is comprised of 18 42-inch free-standing steel pilings, which have already been place. Another eight pile "dolphins" (each consisting of three pilings attached together with a cap on them) will be driven in the center of the pass. 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 HDPE pipe and will have a 48-inch long HDPE fabric weighted skirt hanging below the pipe. Some 2,400 feet of boom, along with the 400-foot-wide gates must be fused together, for a total of 2,800 feet of boom.
 
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 gates will remain open if oil is not a threat to the bay.
 
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. 
 
BP Vice President Bryant Chapman, at a recent meeting with officials from several Panhandle counties, committed to funding Bay County's pass project, now estimated to cost about $5.1 million to construct and eventually remove and another $8,300 per day to manage.
 
The Tier 1, 2 and 3 booming plans will still be exercised. 
 
 

A tugboat will tow a 600-foot section of boom to the pass project as early as Thursday afternoon. Click the photo above to download additional pictures of the pass project under construction.

Tugboat boom
 
 

The Bay County Commission approved a plan to protect the St. Andrew Pass. Click on the photo to download a .pdf of the plan.

Pass plan.revised
 
Oil 136 miles off Panama City 
 
Bay County beaches remained clear Wednesday, and state emergency management officials declared the beaches free of oil. Click here to view the state's interactive Web site.
 
NOAA trajectories continue to show the oil well away from Bay County shores. It is currently located some 136 miles off Panama City.
      
In other news: 
 
-- Residents and visitors who see oiled wildlife should call Oiled Wildlife Hotline number at (866) 557-1401 and allow authorities to rescue the injured animal. Bay County residents may also call 248-6030 to report oiled or injured wildlife.

-- Last week, responders received a rash of reports of oil sheen and mousse off Bay County beaches late Thursday and early Friday morning. None of the reports, however, was determined to have been oil product, but rather was found to be naturally occurring substances such as seagrass and algae. Click here to read a press release about discerning oil from naturally occurring substances.
-- Some 1,000 BP contract employees are currently working on Bay County beaches, with approximately 750 on duty during daylight hours and another 250 working at night, according to Vani Rao, community outreach coordinator for BP.
 
-- 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.
  
-- 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. Residents may also call (866) 448-5816.  
 
-- 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
 
-- 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.
 
-- Oil spill employment opportunities in this area are available. Visit the state Web site for Gulf Recovery Jobs information. 
Weather updates 
  
From NOAA: Moderate to strong winds, predominantly from the SE, are forecast today. Oiling may continue along coastlines in MS, AL, and the FL panhandle west of Pensacola. Overflights from Sunday and Monday identified little floating oil outside the source region; however this may be due in part to poor observing conditions.  For Louisiana, models continue to show winds and currents moving oil from the source region west around the Mississippi Delta and then to the north. This means potential new shoreline oiling in the area between Barataria Bay, LA and Caillou Bay, LA. Further west, observers identified only scattered sheens on recent overflights, but satellite-based observations on July 5 indicate possible small patches of oil south of Vermillion Bay, LA. Models indicate that oil in this region will be subject to rapid westward movement by strong coastal currents which could result in scattered tarball impacts to Texas.
 
From DEP
: Southerly swells from the tropical wave in the southern Gulf of Mexico combined with moderate to strong southeast winds around 10-15kts will result in wave heights of 3-6 feet along the Panhandle coast today, with offshore wave heights
between 7 and 10 feet possible today. Though these conditions may hamper oil
recovery and booming operations, rain chances will decrease each day. Offshore,
no oil has been observed within or moving towards Eddy Franklin and there is no
clear path for oil to enter the Florida Straits. A tropical wave over the southern Gulf
of Mexico has been given a 40 percent chance of becoming a tropical cyclone within the next 48 hours as it moves west-northwestward at 10-15mph.
Fishery closure increased July 4 
 
All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area; however, transit through the area is allowed. The new closure measures 81,181 square miles (210,259 square kilometers) and covers about 34 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. Modeling and mapping the actual and projected spill area is not an exact science. NOAA Fisheries Service strongly advises fishermen not to fish in areas where oil or oil sheens (very thin layers of floating oil) are present, even if those areas are not currently closed to fishing. Any changes to the closure are announced daily at noon Eastern and take effect at 6 p.m. Eastern the same day. Click here for information about how to sign up for text messages concerning NOAA fishery closures and other Deepwater Horizon updates. Click the photo below for more information about the closure.
 
Fishery closure
Click the image above for more information. 
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.
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