July 12 Deepwater Horizon incident 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 under the "Links for Visitors" tab.

·       There are currently no swimming or fishing restrictions on Navarre Beach or anywhere in Santa Rosa County.

·       Today, July 12, no new tar balls were reported on Navarre Beach and the beach is in good condition.

·       Continued impacts will be possible in Northwest Florida over the next 72 hours.

·       According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume is 76 miles from Pensacola, and 126 miles from Panama City. NOAA trajectory forecasts are showing a slow movement of both nearshore and offshore oil through Wednesday. However, no direct significant onshore impacts are forecast.

·       A night cleanup crew of 80 is scheduled to work on Navarre Beach tonight, July 12. There is a clean up crew of 100 scheduled to work on Navarre Beach tomorrow, July 13 during the day shift.

·       Pensacola Pass as well as Perdido Pass will continue to be closed with the tide to reduce the amount of oil from entering inland waters. These waterways are manned to allow access to necessary vessel traffic during low tide.

·       In order to expedite responses to oiled wildlife, please contact the oiled wildlife hotline at 1-866-557-1401 if oiled wildlife is spotted. Qualified personnel will respond to the report. Please do not touch or try and clean oiled wildlife.

·       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.

Health

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Health" tab.

·       July 8 water testing by the University of West Florida showed no dissolved petroleum hydrocarbons above what is normal at Navarre Beach Pier and Santa Rosa Island.

·       July 8 water sampling by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection showed a small amount of a gas/diesel contaminant (naphthalene) detected. This is not believed to be associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. There are two water samples per day planned for Tuesday and Thursday. Results will be available at http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/water.htm#counties.

·       Air quality reports for July 5 revealed that air quality was considered good for ozone and fine particulate concentrations in the panhandle. "Good" means the air quality is satisfactory and air pollution poses little or no risk.

Santa Rosa County Actions

For more information view the Situation Report and Incident Action Plan at www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under "What's Hot" on the "Main" tab.  

·       The Santa Rosa County water reconnaissance teams continue to survey water and boom conditions daily, weather permitting, 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., weather permitting.

·       The Division 1 Branch office is operational and located in Pensacola. It serves both Escambia and Santa Rosa counties, bringing together federal, state and local agencies to streamline response efforts. Santa Rosa County has had staff representation in the office since its implementation.

Booms

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Local Action Plan" tab.  

·       Santa Rosa County and the City of Gulf Breeze boom will remain open until further notice unless there is an imminent threat of oil product verified by state or local surveillance. In this case, the boom could be closed without prior notice and boaters can call (850) 602-0242 for emergency boom openings.

·       Oil containment boom (in feet) total: 769,661 deployed in Florida

o        Tier 1 & Tier 2: 454,200

o        Tier 3: 315,461 (deployed by Florida contractors)

BP Claims

For more information, including how to file a claim, visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Claims" tab.

·         BP claims in Florida total 28,356 with approximately $29,106,864.48 paid.

·         BP claims in Santa Rosa County total 2,983 with approximately $2,888,785 paid.

Small Business Disaster & Bridge Loans

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Business" tab.

Fishing

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Boating, Fishing and Wildlife" tab.

·         All Santa Rosa County waters are currently open to fishing.

·         NOAA modified the commercial and recreational fishing closure in the oil affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico. The new closure measures 84,101 square miles and covers about 35 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive zone. All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area; however transit through the area is allowed. For more information visit http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov.

Vessels of Opportunity (Boats) Program

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Boating, Fishing and Wildlife" tab.

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

Volunteer Information

For more information visit www.santarosa.fl.gov/oilspill under the "Volunteer" tab.

Important Phone Numbers

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

·       The Florida Poison Control Centers- available for general health information regarding the oil spill and exposure to oil spill products- 1-800-222-1222

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 24 hours daily.