Deepwater Horizon county action plan update #26

Situation Update

• Navarre Beach and Santa Rosa’s entire coastline is open.  Two links to live Web cams on Navarre Beach are available at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill.

• A light oil sheen was reported by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission approximately six miles from Navarre Pier today.  The Coast Guard has sent a skimmer into the area; however, skimming is not very effective with light sheen.  With the current weather conditions, evaporation is expected to occur prior to the sheen washing to the shore.  If the sheen makes it to shore, sweeping would be necessary.
• According to the NOAA plume model, the primary oil plume is 30 miles from Pensacola, more than 150 miles from Gulf County, and 330 miles from St. Petersburg, with non contiguous sheens and scattered tar balls closer.
• Trajectories show a northwestward movement of oil over the next three days, threatening the shorelines of Alabama and possibly the western Florida Panhandle.
• Potential impacts to Florida’s shoreline will be highly weathered, in the form of tar balls, oil sheen, tar mats or mousse – a pudding-like oil/water mixture that could be brown, rust or orange in color. For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill, under the Fact Sheet and Q & A heading.
• Skimmers have been deployed near Pensacola with hopes of removing the oil near the shore waters and preventing and minimizing any potential impacts to Florida.
• At this time there are no indications of any health risks due to the Deepwater Horizon incident.  The Department of Health and DEP are closely monitoring health and environmental impacts to Florida’s beaches and will notice an advisory if conditions become unsafe.
• For most people, an occasional brief contact with a small amount of oil, while not recommended, will do no harm. Learn more at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/files/faq_doh_051010.pdf.
• The public is reminded that ALL suspected sightings of oil substances from the spill should be reported directly to State Warning Point at 1-877-2-SAVE-FL (1-877-272-8335). Do not pick the substance up. When reporting to the hotline, please be ready to provided detailed sighting information, including a description and an address or prominent landmarks.
• Approximately 257,750 feet of boom has been deployed in Florida.

o        Tier 1: 134,250

o        Tier 2: 123,500

• BP has a three step approach which resources staged or currently deployed to collect sheen and tar balls that includes skimmers, both containment and deflection boom, and SCAT teams for any material that might reach the shore.  Additional operational plans to retrieve tar mats before they reach the shore are also in place.
• Unified Area Command has consolidated a report of fish and wildlife collected in the Deepwater Horizon/BP incident impact area.  The report is updated each day at noon and is available at http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/doctype/2931/55963.
• BP announced the availability of an informational Web site designed to offer state-specific oil spill information to residents of Florida communities affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.  Residents are encouraged to visit this site frequently and sign up for the mailing list to receive information about BP’s spill response. The Florida state site can be found at www.floridagulfresponse.com.
• There are reports of a scam involving individuals falsely representing themselves as BP employees and offering applicants training and promising job placement for a fee.  BP does not charge to train and hire applicants.  If you or someone you know has been charged for training, please contact law enforcement.
• The Gulf Oil Spill Economic Recovery Task Force has been established. It will facilitate efforts by Florida businesses and industries to recover from the loss of commerce and revenues due to the oil spill.  For more information, visit http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm.
• Residents are asked to stay clear of boom on beaches and in open water. Boom has been placed to protect environmentally sensitive and strategic areas and damaging or removing the boom puts those areas at risk. Crossing boom can cause serious damage to vessels.
• Spill responders are asking for the public’s help in monitoring boom along the Gulf Coast. Boaters are requested to report sightings of broken, disconnected, or adrift boom; and encouraged to keep their distance from boom especially at night and in conditions of restricted visibility.  Report damaged, vandalized, adrift, or stolen boom to 1-866-448-5816.
• Santa Rosa County and the State of Florida continue to make preparations to safeguard the state’s shoreline.

Actions Taken in Santa Rosa County 

• On June 2, the EOC returned to a level 2, or partial activation with essential staff, from 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. until further notice.
• FDEP gave the state contractor, DRC, approval to begin staging boom for Santa Rosa County’s tier three or additional booming plan on June 1.
• On June 2, the state approved DRC to deploy or place the boom.  DRC will begin placing boom today, June 3, working Santa Rosa’s additional booming plan in a west to east direction. If weather conditions are favorable, they expect the additional booming to be in place in two days.
• An additional booming plan for Santa Rosa County that was drafted by the state’s contractor WRS for the county, has been approved by unified command and the plan and booming map are posted at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill, shown as a blue cross on the map (some locations have two crosses to show point to point locations).
• The following booming sites, which are in addition to the U.S. Coast Guard’s Area Contingency Plan, would be deployed by Santa Rosa’s selected state contractor, DRC, who would be responsible for monitoring, maintaining and disposal of any oil material:

o        Zamarra Canal- Booming placed June 3, left open for navigation and will be closed upon imminent threat

o        Gilmore Bayou- Booming placed June 3, left open for navigation and will be closed upon imminent threat

o        Woodland Bayou- Booming placed June 3, left open for navigation and will be closed upon imminent threat

o        Villa Venyce

o        Santa Rosa Shores

o        Hoffman Bayou- Booming placed June 3, left open for navigation and will be closed upon imminent threat

o        Polynesian Isle

o        East River

o        Two booms in Pensacola Bay

• The state’s contractor, DRC, is on standby and ready to respond as needed in Santa Rosa County.
• Unified commands continues to check, verify conditions, and make repairs as needed, to currently placed booms.

BP Claims

• A BP Community Outreach Center has been opened in Gulf Breeze at:

o        1198 Gulf Breeze Pkwy., Ste. 6, Gulf Breeze FL 32561

o        Phone (850) 691-9116

• BP Claims for Deepwater Horizon can be submitted at www.bp.com/claims.
• To serve the residents of Santa Rosa County, BP opened a claims office in Midway on Friday, May 14. The office is located at 5668 Gulf Breeze Parkway Unit B-9 in Gulf Breeze. Hours of operation will be 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week, until further notice.

o        BP recommends anyone with a claim to call 1-800-440-0858 to help expedite the process. By calling the claims number, adjusters at the claims office will have the information prior to your visit.

o        The office is located at: BP Claims Office 5668 Gulf Breeze Pkwy Unit B-9 Gulf Breeze, FL 32563

• BP claims in Florida: 5,487/ approximately $3,882,844.12 paid

o        Wage Loss: 2,997 claims/ $1,901,532.28

o        Loss of Income:

§         Commercial: 426 claims/ $288,976.93

§         Business Interruption: 278 claims/ $112,408.28

§         Shrimper: 126 claims/ $266,750.00

§         Fisherman: 601 claims/ $647,394.79

§         Oyster Harvester: 196 claims/ $6,300.00

§         Crabber: 16 claims/ $5,000.00

§         Recreational Fisherman: 4 claims/ $10,000.00

§         Wholesale Distributor: 7 claims/ $5,000.00

§         Rental Property: 446 claims/ $75,725.00

§         Maintenance Company: 6 claims/ $7,680.00 

§         Seafood Processor: 14 claims/ $6,000.00 

§         Charters: 239 claims/ $531,776.84 

§         Marine Repair: 16 claims/ $10,000.00 

§         Real Estate Sales: 53 claims/ $5,000.00

Fishing

• The fisheries, wildlife and seafood off of Florida’s coast in state waters are safe and there are no alerts at this time.
• Local fishing areas remain open; however, NOAA has expanded some boundaries of the closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico to capture portions of the slick moving beyond the current boundaries – the most significant expansion includes an area off southwest Florida that covers waters just to the west of the Dry Tortugas.
• This federal closure does not apply to any state waters. Closing fishing in these areas is a precautionary measure to ensure that seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers. The closed area now represents 88,502 square miles, which is approximately 37 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters. This leaves more than 63 percent of Gulf federal waters available for fishing. http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/bulletins/pdfs/2010/FB10-050_BP_Oil_Spill_Closure_060210.pdf
• The federal and state governments have systems in place to test and monitor seafood safety, prohibit harvesting from affected areas, and keep oiled products out of the marketplace. NOAA continues to work closely with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the states to ensure seafood safety, by closing fishing areas where tainted seafood could potentially be caught, and assessing whether seafood is tainted or contaminated to levels that pose a risk to human health. NOAA and FDA are working to implement a broad-scaled seafood sampling plan. The plan includes sampling seafood from inside and outside the closure area, as well as dockside- and market-based sampling.
• The recreational harvest season for red snapper in Gulf of Mexico waters off Florida reopened on June 1.  The harvest season is scheduled to remain open until July 24 this year. For more information about red snapper management and regulations, go to www.MyFWC.com/Fishing.
• The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission designated June 5 & 6 as Free Saltwater Fishing Days to encourage noncommercial fishing in Florida. During these dates, both residents and nonresidents in Florida can fish for saltwater species around the state without a license.  All other fishing rules apply.
• The FWC reminds Floridians and visitors that the state’s recreational and commercial fisheries have not been impacted by the oil spill and remain open for public enjoyment and commerce. Florida saltwater fishing regulations remain in effect as usual and are available online at MyFWC.com/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.
• Details can be found at:  http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/

Small Business Disaster Loans Available

• Governor Crist announced that the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved disaster loan funds for businesses along Florida’s Gulf coast that have been impacted by the Deepwater Horizon incident.

o        SBA representatives opened a disaster loan office on Tuesday, May 18 at the Navarre Visitor Information Center located at 8543 Navarre Parkway (U.S. Hwy 98) in Navarre. Hours of operations will be 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. Monday- Friday until further notice.

o        More information can be found at: www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/SERV_DISASTERASSISTANCEGOV.html

Vessels of Opportunity (boats) program

• BP is looking to contract shrimp boats, oyster boats and other vessels for hire through the Vessel of Opportunities Program to deploy boom in the Gulf of Mexico. For more information 907-301-8878.
• 65 of 1,151 contracts have been activated for the Vessels of Opportunity program in Florida.
• Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system: (281) 366-5511

Important Phone Numbers

• Florida Oil Spill Information Line- 1-888- 337-3569
• Fraud Hotline- 1-866-966-7226.
• - email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or call
• Report Oiled Wildlife- 1-866-557-1401
• Report Oiled Shoreline to State Warning Point- 1-877-2-SAVE-FL (1-877-272-8335)
• BP Toll-Free Claims line- 1800-440-0858
• BP’s Community Information line- 1-866-448-5816
• Florida Agriculture and Consumer Services Commissioner gas price-gauging hotline: 1-800-HELP-FLA (1-800-435-7352).

General Safety Information

• www.santarosa.fl.gov
• Citizens can signup to automatically receive breaking news alerts from Santa Rosa County Emergency Management via e-mail or as a text message on their cell phone at:  www.santarosa.fl.gov/emergency/publicwarning.html.
• The Santa Rosa County Citizen Information Line at (850) 983-INFO or 4636 is open 8 a.m.-5 p.m. daily.