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Weekend weather updates
This Afternoon: Mostly sunny, with a high near 91. West wind between 10 and 15 mph.
Tonight: Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. West wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Saturday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms after 9am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 92. West wind between 5 and 15 mph.
Saturday Night: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 78. West northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Sunday: A 40 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 91. North northwest wind between 5 and 10 mph.
Sunday Night: A 20 percent chance of showers and thunderstorms before 1am. Partly cloudy, with a low around 78.
From DEP: Fair weather conditions are expected today, with very low rain chances and seas of 1-3 feet. Rainfall chances will increase over the weekend, but most activity is expected to occur over inland areas during the day and offshore at night. Heat index values may reach between 99 and 103 degrees at the coast Friday through Sunday. Winds have shifted out of the west, but will be light around 5-10 knots Friday. West to southwest winds between 5 and 15 knots will likely persist through the weekend and early next week. 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. Also, no significant tropical activity is expected through the next 48 hours. |
Workers to continue boom attachment Monday
A late incoming tide stalled additional boom attachment to pilings in the pass on Friday, Bay County Public Works Director Ken Schnell said.
He said the second 600-foot long piece of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) pipe boom will not likely be moved until Monday, though workers will continue to drive pilings and manufacture the boom around the clock at the port.
"The incoming tide continues to be late," he said, "so it's too close to being dark when we get it out there. We need an incoming tide to push the boom up against the pilings so they can be attached."
Schnell said six of eight dolphin pilings have been completed, and the pile driving is currently ahead of schedule. Boom manufacturing, he said, is slightly behind schedule, though the July 16 completion date is still attainable. Crews began driving sheet piling on either side of the project on Thursday, he said.
The sheet piling, 150 feet on each side, will run from the farthest piling on either end of the project onto the beach, thus preventing water directed toward the beach from eroding behind the boom. Crews were working on sheet piling on either side of the pass Friday.
The first boom placed will be a good opportunity to test the project's capabilities. So far, Schnell said, it's holding up well.
Each side of the project will have two 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.
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 placed. Another eight pile "dolphins" (each consisting of three pilings attached together with a cap on them) are being 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.
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, and the boom may be staged nearby.
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.
Photo by Terry Barner of the Panama City News Herald.  |
Photo by Terry Barner of the Panama City News Herald.  |
Photo by Terry Barner of the Panama City News Herald.  |
The Bay County Commission approved a plan to protect the St. Andrew Pass. Click on the photo to download a .pdf of the plan.  |
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| Oil 129 miles off Panama City
Bay County beaches remained clear Friday, though state emergency management officials said two tarballs were collected at Crooked Island East and one tarball was found at Shell Island. Click here to view the state's interactive Web site.
According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume is 71 miles from Pensacola, 129 miles from Panama City and 311 miles from St. Petersburg. NOAA trajectory forecasts show portions of the oil plume expanding back to the east. However, no significant direct coastal impacts to beaches are currently forecast through the next three days.
In other news:
-- The Bay County State of Emergency has been extended until July 22, 2010.
-- Minimal impact over the past two days. Due to small amount of oiled product, clean-up workers are now removing trash. On July 8, three bags of oiled product were recovered and 95 bags of trash picked up.
-- 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.
-- Often reports of oil are 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. |
| 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.
 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. |
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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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