City Continues to Monitor Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

On April 20, 2010, an offshore oil drilling platform, Deepwater Horizon, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana. The rig, owned by Transocean Ltd, was under contract to BP. The United States Coast Guard, BP and the Minerals Management Service are the lead response agencies on the oil spill.

Delray Beach City Officials Continue to Monitor Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Staff members are participating in Palm Beach County’s Deepwater Horizon Planning Task Force, a collaborative effort initiated by Palm Beach County Emergency Management and local partners to respond to the oil spill should it become a threat to our shores.

Planning Task Force members from the City of Delray Beach include City Manager David T. Harden, Fire-Rescue Chief David C. James and Assistant Chief John Tomaszewski, Planning and Zoning Director Paul Dorling, and Parks & Recreation Director Linda Karch.

From County Commissioner Steven L. Abrams - Update on Oil Spill and County Initiatives

"At the June 29th Board of County Commissioners meeting, county emergency management and environmental officials updated the board on the Gulf oil spill’s potential impact on Palm Beach County.

The Board also discussed the county ’s recent initiative to install signage on local beaches to inform the public with procedural information if they spot any tar balls or other evidence of oil. The county has ordered approximately 500 signs and they will be distributed to local coastal municipalities for installation at their discretion.

The county does not plan to install any signage at county owned and/or operated beaches unless it is determined that oil balls/mats have entered the loop current."

Deepwater Horizon Task Force Oil Spill Update - June 2010

8 tar balls have been found along our shoreline to date and none originated from the oil spill.
Weather forecasts show that winds and currents are preventing eastward movement of the oil plume along the northwest Florida coastline. No significant amounts of oil are within or moving towards the loop current and there is no indication that we would experience any influx of tar balls/mats in the next week.
Florida straits are being monitored for tar balls/mats entering the eastern coastal loop current. If there is any indication of any weathered oil, the county predicts it would take 2 weeks to reach our shoreline.
Palm Beach County is the first east coast county to submit a comprehensive plan to Federal On-Scene Commander.
Over 400 local municipal and county employees have received training to date and are available to assist with beach cleanup efforts.
Over 15,000 volunteers have registered statewide to respond to the crisis with over 250 individuals and 16 volunteer organizations (with existing bases of thousands of volunteers) in Palm Beach County alone.
A list of commercial vendors trained to clean beaches has been compiled.
A shoreline protection plan is in place for environmentally sensitive areas using silk curtains and booms which could be implemented quickly and efficiently if there is any indication of tar balls/mats in the loop current.
Approximately 67% of the Gulf federal waters are available for fishing. Closed fishing in the remaining areas is a precautionary measure to ensure that seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers. This federal closure does not apply to state waters.
As of 6/25/10, more than 38,000 personnel are working on the onshore and offshore response efforts.
Over 8,000 jobs related to the spill have been advertised and per BP over 4,000 individuals have been trained and are available.

Additional information on the oil spill and the Palm Beach County Deepwater Horizon Planning Task Force is available at: www.pbcgov.com/publicsafety/emergencymanagement/DeepWaterHorizon/.

Anyone finding a tar ball should not touch it! Report tar balls or other evidence of oil on our coastline to Palm Beach County Emergency Operations Center by calling (561) 712-6400 or State Warning Point: 1-877-272-8335 (DEP) .

Florida Information Lines:

The Florida Oil Spill Information Line (FOSIL) is available from 8am-6pm EDT daily for citizens’ questions at (888) 337-3569, TDD (800) 955-8771.
For general health/exposures information questions related to the oil spill, contact the Florida Poison Control Center at (800) 222-1222.
Two public hotline numbers for oil spill investigation and cleanup:
Impacted Wildlife: (866) 557-1401 and Oiled Shoreline: (877) 2-SAVE-FL or #DEP for cellular devices.
The Florida Department of State has established a hotline for archeological, historical preservation, and tribal lands that may be impacted by the Deepwater Horizon incident: (850) 245-6530.

Information Websites: