7/8/2010 Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill DEP Sampling Update

DEP: Division of Environmental Assessment and Restoration
Impact assessment sampling event in Panhandle at shoreline sites in Florida Panhandle counties continues: Escambia through Franklin Counties (Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay, Gulf, Franklin).

Water samples will be collected throughout the panhandle for PAH’s. Two to three samples will be collected each day from Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf counties. Sampling will be conducted throughout each week on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Routine monitoring will continue in Gulf and Franklin counties on Tuesdays.

FDEP Deepwater Horizon Web: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm
“Quicklinks” on the right will direct you to water sampling reports.


July 8, 2010 Water samples collected today:

Escambia/Santa Rosa – Johnson Beach, Ft. Pickens, Pensacola Pier, Navarre Beach – routine samples, no oil observed
Okaloosa – Beasley Park, Henderson State Park – routine samples, no oil observed
Walton County: 2 samples planned (Miramar Beach, and either Blue Mountain or Grayton Beach)
Bay County: 2 samples planned (Laguna Beach, Panama City Beach)

DEP: Division of Water Resource Management
A NRDA Shoreline/Marsh Pre-Assessment plan has been approved; staff from the Office of Submerged Lands and Environmental Resources and from the Beaches and Wetland Resources Section are coordinating.

A NRDA team (Entrix and National Parks) is conducting pre-assessment inspections on Gulf Islands National Seashore this week.

DEP: Coastal and Aquatic Managed Areas (CAMA)
CAMA is gearing up to start the northeast region (Volusia through Nassau Counties) the week of July 12.

FL Governor Calls Special Session on State Oil Drilling Ban

On July 8th Governor Crist announced a Proclamation to hold a Special Session from July 20-23 to convene the Legislature for the sole purpose of of passing a joint resolution to revise the Florida Constitution to prohibit the exploration for, the drilling for, the extraction of and the production of oil beneath all Florida waters from the mean high water line to the seaward limit of Florida's boundaries.

Copy of the Governor's Proclamation

Action Alert for Florida Residents to Support Special Session

Great Video from Hands Across The Sand in Montauk

State of the Spill - Week 10

Spill Size/Extent

Size: 76,440,000 gallons (70 days)

Note: Surfrider’s estimate of the spill volume is based on a rate of 26,000 barrels per day. The most recent estimate of the continuing rate of the oil gusher is between 35,000 and 60,000 barrels per day (1,470,000 to 2,520,000 gallons per day). If the release has been at that rate since Day 1, the total volume of oil released is now between and 103 and 176 million gallons.

NOAA’s new GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse online tool provides nearshore and offshore “spill trajectory estimates” for the current oil plume and the next two days. You can also use the tool to show the current plume, the location of “beached oil” and surface water currents.

State of Efforts to Stop Flow

BP’s “top hat” containment system plus auxiliary collection and flaring systems are believed to be collecting approximately 25,000 barrels of oil per day, although substantial amounts of oil are still escaping through vent valves on the containment dome. BP has been ordered to step up their efforts to capture more of the oil. Their latest response letter (also discussed here) details plans to collect 40,000-53,000 barrels per day of oil by June 30.

Meanwhile, BP continues to drill two “relief wells” that are intended to intercept the blown-out well at a depth of about 16,000 feet. Drilling mud and cement would then be pumped into the well to seal it. The wells will take at least a few more weeks to drill. Read more.

Ecological Damage

The GeoPlatform.gov/gulfresponse online tool can be configured to show the fishery closure area and confirmed marine mammal and sea turtle strandings and observations. The Daily Dead Wildlife Tally shows the current number of birds, sea turtles and marine mammals that have been found dead in the oil spill area.

Volunteer Response Resources

Surfrider volunteer oil spill toolkit

Volunteer Phone numbers: (state-specific contact information below)

Deepwater Horizon Incident Volunteer Hotline: 866-448-5816
Vessel of Opportunities Program - Fishermen should phone 425-745-8017

Fact sheets related to oil spills in general and this spill:
http://www.piersystem.com/go/doctype/2931/53023/
http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon
http://gulfseagrant.tamu.edu/oilspill/index.htm

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Deepwater_Horizon_oil_spill

Official Response Resources

Deepwater Horizon Response
Twitter: http://twitter.com/usnoaagov
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/usnoaagov
Podcasts: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/podcast.html
NOAA Roles and Tools: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/topics/oceans/spills/
EPA: http://www.epa.gov/bpspill/

Phone numbers:

NOAA media inquiries: keeley.belva@noaa.gov or 301-713-3066
For response inquiries: Joint Information Center (JIC) at 985-902-5231 or 985-902-5240
BP Horizon Response Hotline: 281-366-5511
To report oil, or general Community and Volunteer Information: 866-448-5816
To report oiled or injured wildlife: 866-557-1401
Coast Guard officials say not to pick up any tar balls you find and to report them at (800) 424-8802

Florida Specific Volunteer Information:

Oil spill related clean up: http://www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org/
Opportunities will be posted as they become available.

If you live in these areas and want to help:
Okaloosa County call: 850-651-7150 


Bay County call: 763-6587 


Walton County: go to http://www.waltonso.org/

The Gulf Specimen Marine Lab in Panacea, Florida needs volunteers and donations to support their educational and research work.

Florida Palm Beach/Treasure Coast area volunteers can email Surfrider's Florida Regional Manager Ericka D'avanzo: edavanzo@surfrider.org

Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs
http://gulfrecoveryjobs.employflorida.com/portals/gulfrecoveryjobs/

Florida DEP is not encouraging private citizens to clean up shorelines. However, should a homeowner have oil soaked materials, there are two options:

• Have the homeowners contact 1-866-448-5816 and someone will be sent out to retrieve the oiled materials.

• Emerald County Utilities Authority (ECUA) will provide several 55 gallon drums at certain walk crossovers on Pensacola Beach. They will be marked for oil debris only. BP/ Waste Management will be responsible for all collection and disposal. ECUA has provided the containers at no charge to help with the response.

Florida Information Numbers and Websites:

DEP Related Media Questions: Amy Graham at 850-245-2112 or -2113
Florida Emergency Information Line: 800-342-3557
Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) incident response website: http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm

Resources in Other Gulf States:

Louisiana: http://www.volunteerlouisiana.gov/
Mississippi:
http://www.volunteermississippi.org/1800Vol/OpenIndexAction.do
Alabama: http://www.servealabama.gov/2010/default.aspx

Also see:
Coalition to Restore Coastal Louisiana
Galveston Bay Foundation
Mississippi Department of Marine Resources - (228) 374-5000
Mobile Bay National Estuary Program
Restore America’s Estuaries
Save Our Gulf
National Audubon Society

More Information & Call to Action

Thanks to everyone (there were more than 100,000 participants across the U.S. and worldwide) who came out to their local beaches last Saturday to join hands and draw an actual and a metaphorical line in the sand against offshore oil drilling and for clean energy.

Help us track oil spill impacts at: http://oilspill.skytruth.org/

Urge Obama and Congress to ban new drilling: http://www.surfrider.org/nodrilling

State Action Alert for Special Session (FL Only) – Our legislators are holding up Gov. Crist's request for a special session to make oil drilling a 2010 ballet item.

Walk your beaches daily to ensure no garbage or plastic debris is present. Do not disturb bird nesting areas!

Join the Surfrider Foundation: http://www.surfrider.org/join

TEDxOilSpill Live Now!

Go here for live stream

TEDxOilSpill website.

Complexity of Cleaning Oil

This layer of oil uncovered by USF geologists illustrates the complexity of cleaning oil off our beaches. The dynamic movement of sand on beaches has covered the oil with a 6-8 inch layer of sand. If the clean up crews only look at the surface of the beach when cleaning the oil how much will they miss? What is the ecological impact to the important animals that use the beach? How will this effect nesting sea turtles? And how long before this layer gets exposed again?

As we learned from the lasting ecological impacts of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, one thing is certain. We will be addressing these impacts for decades to come.

Click here for more photo's from the St. Petersburg Times

HANDS ACROSS THE SAND - TOMORROW JUNE 26th

Hands Across the Sand is now international. The image is powerful, the message is simple. NO to Offshore Oil Drilling, YES to Clean Energy.

Join the Surfrider Foundation THIS SATURDAY, June 26 at 11 a.m. PLEASE WEAR BLACK.

Join hands for 15 minutes on the beach in a united effort against offshore oil drilling and the dangers it presents to our oceans and marine wildlife, fishing industries and coastal economies.

There are 819 total events organized.

There are 730 events organized in the U.S.

There are events organized in 509 different U.S. cities.

There are events organized in all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. (52)

There are events organized in 32 countries outside the U.S.

There are events organized in 82 cities outside the U.S.

The following countries are participating:
Australia, Bangladesh, Brazil, Belize, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Spain, France, United Kingdom, Greenland, Croatia, Ireland, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Lebanon, Mexico, Malaysia, Nicaragua, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Panama, Peru, Poland, Sweden, Tanzania, South Africa,

With the mishap of BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill this event will be more timely than ever and likely to double or triple the 300+ number of people that gathered before. Hands Across The Sand‘s mission is to change our energy policy away from its dependence on fossil fuels and into the light of clean energy. The aim is to convince our leaders to abandon expanded offshore oil drilling and adopt policies that encourage clean and renewable energy sources.