Escambia County Board of County Commissioners and Staff

The local state of emergency has been extended until May 28.

• The Escambia County Emergency Operations Center has returned to normal Level 3 operations.
• County staff continue to monitor the situation and will continue to participate in daily briefings with the State of Florida and Unified Command.
• On inland waters (bays, bayous, estuaries, rivers), private property owners may install oil absorbent material, booms or fences on private property above the mean high waterline (MHWL) only. No material may be installed or sprayed below the MHWL.
• On gulf-front property, the use of silt fences, obstructions, hay bales, peat, surfactants or other material is not approved. DEP is the permitting agency for beaches and coastal systems. No obstructions to sea turtle nesting behavior is allowed.
• If citizens see anything unusual on the beaches they feel needs to be reported:
• Contact the Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce at 850-492-4660 on Perdido Key
• Report to the lifeguards on duty on Pensacola Beach
• Deflective boom – large floating barriers that help contain floating oil – has been deployed in all locations of the Local Action Plan and Addendum One. See boom deployment progress report and map. Staff continues to evaluate areas and is monitoring all deployed boom.
• To keep waterways open as long as possible, boom is “wet staged” at some locations. When floating petroleum becomes an imminent threat, boom will be fully deployed. “Fully deployed boom” is described as boom anchored into a functional configuration.
• Escambia County is evaluating every viable proposa for coastal protection and recovery, coordinating with Unified Command and will share information as it is approved.
• A PowerPoint of oil spill response strategies is posted at www.escambiadisasterresponse.com.
• Pteropods, also known as the sea butterfly, have been reported on gulf beaches. Pteropods are small, clear and sharply pointed larval snails. Although they are fairly sharp, they do not pose a threat to people. They are naturally occurring and not due to anything oil-related.
• Residents and business owners with water access on their property should have pre-assessments prepared (photos, video, etc. documenting the current condition of the property).
• The brown foam seen on the beaches is not associated with the oil spill. This is a common natural occurrence, when fish are spawning and there are hard winds, rain, and wave action