|
JUNE 16, 2010
The horrific oil spill in the Gulf continues to be on top of all our minds, and heavy in our hearts. I've met with numerous state and local officials, including Governor Crist recently, and we are doing everything in our power to stay on top of the disaster and make sure Pinellas County is as best prepared as we can be.
The U.S. Coast Guard has approximately 400 vessels actively skimming oil off-shore and near shore. In addition, in Florida waters, 392 of the 2,026 vessels of opportunity (fisherman and other boaters who have volunteered their vessels) are actively skimming oil before it gets to shore.
In Florida, we have deployed 278,500 feet of boom to help keep the oil out of the sensitive estuaries and marshes that are so important to the long-term health of the fishing industry. The marshes and estuaries are extremely difficult to clean so that is why our first resources are going to them as opposed to the beaches which are comparatively easy to clean.
The good news for us in Florida is that the weather continues to cooperate. The winds continue out of the south/southeast and the current continues to push the oil slightly to the west. This should limit any onshore impact to west of Santa Rosa County.
The U.S. Coast Guard has dispatched the U.S. Coast Guard Walton Smith to investigate the area of very light sheen between 125 and 150 miles west of the Tampa Bay Area. They have found no recoverable oil and a few widely dispersed small tar balls.
For those who are keeping track of the loop current, the large eddy that had broken off a few weeks ago may reattach itself in the next few days. The implications of this are currently unknown as the eddy has virtually no oil circulating in it. In any event, even with the attached eddy, the loop current remains south of the main oil spill area.
OSHA is now increasing the training requirements for volunteers to increase work safety.
I thought you would like to have some of the inside statistics on what we are doing. I will keep you apprised of any major breaking news on the oil spill as it comes out.
|
|
Best regards,
Jim Frishe
State Representative
District 54 |
I also wanted to provide you with a list of oil spill resources that you can directly access to get up-to-date information. Some you may be familiar with, others may be new to you:
|
