Situation Update

·       Navarre Beach and Santa Rosa's entire coastline is open for swimming and fishing. Two links to live Web cams on Navarre Beach are available at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill.

·       County staff and reconnaissance teams have investigated multiple reports today and the past week of oil slicks, sheens, patches and streamers that are visible from the I10 Bridge and orange foam on the coast line of Blackwater Bay. To date there is no oil product in this area, but the material found has been tidal foam, seaweed, debris in the tide lines, phytoplankton, fish or other natural and organic material that is often present in the inland waterways this time of the year or associated with the dredging that is currently taking place at the mouth of Mulat Bayou near the Archie Glover Boat Ramp. All reports continue to be investigated.

·       Sporadic pea to quarter-sized tarballs were reported on Navarre beach today, June 19.

·       On June 19, dime to five inch-sized tar balls and tar patties continued to be found in widely scattered areas of northwest Florida.

·       Tarballs in patches were reported roughly three miles south of Pensacola Pass and a heavy sheen and clusters of tarballs five miles south of the pass today, June 19. Skimmers are currently working the area and are ready to respond at first light as needed.

·       According to NOAA projections, additional impacts are expected throughout northwest Florida within the next 72 hours due to onshore winds.

·       The NOAA trajectories indicate a very slow easterly movement of the oil slick and the Florida Panhandle will continue to be threatened by shoreline contacts as far east as Panama City through Monday. However, the expected shift in winds will likely begin to push much of the oil plume towards the west-northwest later next week, though oil already near shore will continue to be pushed ashore by tidal currents.

·       A weak tropical wave near Puerto Rico has a low (10 percent) chance of development during the next 48 hours.

·       Citizens are asked not to have direct contact with oil and oil contaminated products such as tar balls, tar patties, tar mats, and oil sheen. Only qualified members should handle oil products and oil contaminated materials. To report tar or oil on the beach, call the Florida State Warning Point Line at 1-877-272-8335 or # DEP from a cell phone.

·       U.S. Coast Guard Commander Boudreow and DEP Secretary Mike Sole now represent Unified Command and will direct operations for Florida.

·       The state emergency operations center reported today, June 19, they signed a contract for five skimmer crews, with one dedicated to protecting the Pensacola Pass area. This is in addition to the U.S. Coast Guard and BP's Vessels of Opportunity skimmers. It is expected to be operational on June 22.

·       On Friday, June 18, 19  cleanup personnel were reported on Navarre Beach

·       Unified Command's protocol for minimizing wildlife effects during night cleanup operations is available at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the Fishing & Wildlife heading.

·       Skimmers have been deployed in our area and are actively skimming 24-hours a day as weather permits.

·       There are 313 Qualified Community Responders and 1,047 beach clean up personnel actively working the cleanup effort in the Florida Panhandle.

·       Governor Crist extended the declaration of a State of Emergency covering Santa Rosa County.

·       On June 17, Governor Crist announced the Florida Gulf Recovery Web site that will allow job seekers to locate and apply for positions created in the response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The site is located at www.floridagulfrecoveryjobs.com.

·       Secretary Sole signed an emergency order this morning authorizing the burning of product off shore in Florida waters. The county will notify residents before the burning starts.

·       Five skimmers, one for each bay, have been ordered for the State of Florida.

·       The state's Deepwater Horizon Beach Restoration Plan is now available at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under what's hot.

·       Perdido Pass, Pensacola Pass and Bayou Texar are navigationally restricted during flood (incoming) tide and reopen during ebb (outgoing) tide as water flows out to the gulf. They are manned to allow access to necessary vessel traffic. Boaters in areas where skimming is being conducted, or where boom has been set, have been requested to maintain no-wake speeds.

·       Reconnaissance missions are being coordinated daily from the State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee using air, land, and sea assets from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, the Florida Civil Air Patrol, and the Florida National Guard. Current local operations include:

o        Nearshore Task Force #1 - Conducting oil recovery operations at Pensacola Pass.

o        Escambia Divisions 1, 2 & 3- Operating from Perdido to Navarre to deploy, inspect, maintain and reconfigures boom, investigate and respond to reports of oil, support wildlife branch activities and beach clean debris to minimize need for disposal of contaminated waste.

o        Offshore Recovery Task Force #701-705 deployed south of Pensacola.

o        This morning, most of the task forces were southwest of Pensacola actively skimming product.

o        Taskforce four was located off Destin along with 40 vessels.

·       Dispersants in Florida waters have been approved.

 

Health

·       An online mental health survey for residents is being conducted to gather information on the effect of Deepwater Horizon incident on mental health at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill, under What's Hot. The survey will be available until the oil incident is resolved. For questions contact Daniel Hahn at (850) 983-4606 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

·       June 17 water quality testing performed by the University of West Florida showed no dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons at Pensacola Beach Pier and Navarre Beach Pier.

·       Air quality reports for June 14 revealed that air quality was good for the ozone and moderate for fine concentrations in the panhandle. "Good" means the air quality is satisfactory and air pollution poses little of no risk. "Moderate" means air quality is acceptable for most people.

·       The Department of Health and the Department of Environmental Protection are closely monitoring health and environmental impacts to Florida. Current advisories are posted at: www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/health.htm and www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under "What's Hot."

·       The Florida Department of Health, in coordination with DEP and VISITFLORIDA has developed an online mapping resource that contains the most up-to-date health advisory information for Florida's beach waters. This information is available at www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/health.htm or www.visitflorida.com/florida_travel_advisory/.

·       Syndromic surveillance, or using health-related data that would warrant further public health response, has been heightened in six coastal counties from Escambia to Gulf, monitoring for potential health effects.

·       The tar balls that are found resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill pose no different health risk than tar balls that are commonly found on Florida beaches. 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.

o        For most people, an occasional brief contact with a small amount of tar balls, while not recommended, will do no harm. However, some people are especially sensitive to chemicals, including the hydrocarbons found in crude oil and petroleum products. They may have an allergic reaction or develop rashes even from brief contact with oil. If contact occurs, wash the area with soap and water, baby oil, or a widely used, safe cleaning compound such as the cleaning paste sold at auto parts stores. Avoid using solvents, gasoline, kerosene, diesel fuel, or similar products on the skin. These products, when applied to skin, present a greater health hazard than the smeared tarball itself.

 

Santa Rosa County Actions

·       The Santa Rosa County water reconnaissance teams continue to survey water and boom conditions daily providing real time information on oil products including photos and GPS coordinates.

·       County staff and reconnaissance teams continue to monitor beach conditions daily generally from day break until 6 p.m.

·       On Saturday, June 16, Santa Rosa County staff met with DRC, the state's boom contractor for additional boom placement in Santa Rosa County, to discuss weekly sign-off on contractual obligations.

·       Staff finalized the boom closure plan for boom that is currently open and that would be closed at imminent threat, to include public notification process.

·       Researched fluorometers, or quick oil testing devices, for possible of use in county waters.

·       A staff member from Santa Rosa County Emergency Management continues to be stationed at Unified Command located in Mobile, AL to represent Santa Rosa, Escambia and Okaloosa counties and help ensure rapid response and better communications between the counties and Unified Command.

·       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. The Santa Rosa County Citizen Information Line at (850) 983-INFO or 4636 is open 24 hours daily.

·       Santa Rosa County and the State of Florida continue to make preparations to safeguard the state's shoreline.

 

Booms

·       Oil containment boom (in feet) total in Florida: 388,350

o        Tier 1: 172,000 / Tier 2: 120,000

o        Tier 3: 896,350 ( deployed by Florida contractors)

·       Santa Rosa County's approved additional boom locations and the location of the U.S. Coast Guard's Contingency booms 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).

·       Booms located in Santa Rosa that have been left open for navigation to date, may begin to close this week. Boaters in these areas should monitor the local media or www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill for the latest on boom closures.

·       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.

 

BP Claims

·       On June 16, BP announced that it has established a $20 Billion claims fund over the next three and a half years. The fund will be available to satisfy legitimate claims including natural resource damages and state and local response costs.

·       On June 15, BP announced that it has approved initial payments toward 90 percent of commercial large loss claims that have been filed as a result of financial losses of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Using an accelerated process BP approved payments of 337 checks for a total of $16 million to businesses that have filed claims in excess of $5,000. Initial payments began over the weekend and will be completed this week. The remaining outstanding commercial large loss claims are awaiting documentation and are continuing through the process.

·       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        BP claims in Florida total 16,388 with approximately $14,900,918.85 paid.

o        BP claims in Santa Rosa County total 1,592 with approximately $1,369,022 paid.

 

Small Business Disaster & Bridge Loans

·       On June 7, Governor Charlie Crist activated Florida's Small Business Emergency Bridge Loan Program, which will provide emergency, short-term loans to established small businesses in the designated counties. Applications for businesses will be available Monday, June 14, 2010. To receive an application or more information on the program, please contact the Governor's Office of Tourism, Trade, and Economic Development at (850) 487-2568, or the Florida First Capital Finance Corporation (http://www.ffcfc.com) at (850) 681-3601.

·       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- Saturday until further notice. More information can be found at: www.sba.gov/services/disasterassistance/SERV_DISASTERASSISTANCEGOV.html

o        Loan Applications

  Issued: 370Accepted: 84Declined: 16Approved: 2Loan amount approved: $255,000.00

 

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.

·       542 vessels have been deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.

·       Submit your vessel as a vessel of opportunity skimming system: (281) 366-5511

 

Fishing

·       All Santa Rosa County waters are currently open to fishing. Oil has not affected most of Florida waters and there are vast amounts open for fishing and other recreational activities and the FWC encourages everyone to fish where the waters are clear and to enjoy freshly harvested seafood products in these areas. Updated information regarding fishing advisories or harvest closures in Florida due to the BP oil spill will be posted online at http://myfwc.com/OilSpill/index.htm.

·       The FWC is taking precautionary actions and has issued a partial harvesting closure of saltwater fish and marine vertebrates. This closure covers state waters from the Alabama state line east to the Pensacola Beach tower (approximately 23 miles east and out nine miles from the coastline. Interior bays and estuaries remain open to fishing. The closure does not affect oysters, clams and scallops. Catch and release is still allowed. For more information visit http://myfwc.com/OilSpill/index.htm

·       On June 16, NOAA expanded the closed fishing area to capture portions of the oil slick moving beyond the area's current northern boundary, off the northwest Florida federal-state line. This boundary was moved to Panama City Beach. This closure does not apply to any state waters and leaves more than 66 percent of the Gulf federal waters available for fishing. For more information visit http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/bulletins/pdfs/2010/FB10-054_BP_Oil_Spill_Closure_061610.pdf

·       To help prevent tainted seafood from reaching the market, NOAA created a seafood sampling and inspection plan. Just after the beginning of the spill, it collected and tested seafood of commercial and recreational fish and shellfish species from areas where oil from the spill had not yet reached. NOAA is using ongoing surveillance to evaluate new seafood samples to determine whether contamination is present outside the closed area. If fish samples have elevated levels of oil compounds, NOAA will consider whether to expand closed areas.

·         The FWC & 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/  

 

Boats

·       Vessels are advised to avoid spill areas.

·       Vessels that must transit through the affected zone should maintain a safe speed through the oil that appears light, bright and on the surface. Vessels should avoid pockets of heavy black oil to ensure safe navigation.

·       If traveling through an oil affected area by boat, take precautions when hoisting the boat anchor. If oil makes contact with skin, wash it off immediately with soap and water. Recommendations can be found on cleaning at www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon under Resources.

 

 

Important Phone Numbers

·       Florida Oil Spill Information Line is- available from 8 a.m.- 6 p.m. EDT daily for citizen's questions. - 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 1-281-366-5511

·       Report Oiled Wildlife- 1-866-557-1401

·       Report Oiled Shoreline to State Warning Point- 1-877-2-SAVE-FL (1-877-272-8335) or #DEP from a cell phone

·       To Report Oiled Shoreline to BP- 877-389-8932

·       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.govCitizens 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 24 hours daily. For general health information regarding the oil spill and exposure to oil spill products contact the Florida Poison Control information centers at 1-800-222-1222.