On Friday, Attorney General Bill McCollum issued a consumer advisory warning Floridians about final or quick payments options from BP. Gulf Coast Claims (GCCF) Administrator Kenneth Feinberg announced the GCCF’s next phase which will include three payment options: interim payments, final payments and quick final payments. Claimants accepting of either of the final payment options [...]
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) cleared another 8,403 square miles of Gulf waters for fishing. The area reopened is due south of the Florida/Alabama state line extending west to the Louisiana state water line. This opening leaves just a fraction of the Gulf of Mexico closed to fishing. The area just reopened has [...]
NOAA reopened 3,114 square miles of Gulf waters offshore of the western Florida panhandle to commercial and recreational fishing late last week. The reopening was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA, and the Gulf states. Trajectory models show the area is at a low risk [...]
Mariner Energy Inc. of Houston TX confirmed one of its oil rigs that resides approximately 100 miles off the coast of Louisiana is on fire. All of the crew members survived with one injury reported. The rig services 7 wells producing both oil and natural gas. Crew has reported that the flow was shut off [...]
From VisitFlorida.org Given widespread concern about the negative perception of the oil spill’s impact on Florida visitors, VISIT FLORIDA participated in a study conducted by Ypartnership to gauge the near-term travel intentions of select Americans and their awareness and impressions of how Florida has been affected by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The survey was [...]
From Deepwater Horizon Response External Affairs Office: NOAA has reopened 4,281 square miles of Gulf waters off western Louisiana to commercial and recreational fishing. The reopening was announced after consultation with FDA and under a re-opening protocol agreed to by NOAA, the FDA, and the Gulf states. On July 18, NOAA data showed no oil [...]
Southern Florida, the Florida Keys, and the East Coast are not likely to experience any effects from the remaining oil on the surface of the Gulf as the oil continues to degrade and is hundreds of miles away from the loop current, according to a new NOAA analysis. This analysis assumes the Deepwater Horizon/BP wellhead [...]
From Deepwater Horizon Response External Affairs: Based on new pressure readings, data, and analysis, the U.S. scientific teams charged by National Incident Commander Thad Allen with determining the flow of oil from BP’s leaking well have refined their estimates of the oil flow prior to the well being capped on July 15. Today’s estimates, which [...]
By Valerie J. Amor 7.25.2010 It has been 95 days since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank to the bottom of the Gulf. Admiral Allen on Saturday, July 24 estimated timelines for resuming preparations for the static kill and relief well drilling operations once the equipment is reconnected. “I think probably within 48 hours, [...]
Environmentalists around the state are hoping that a special session starting tomorrow, July 20, in Tallahassee will let voters in Florida decide on the offshore drilling issue. In one of many gatherings around Florida, a small group gathered Monday on the steps of Oakland Park City Hall, also home to Florida Senate President Jeff Atwater’s [...]
Statement by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen: “Yesterday I sent BP a letter stating that there were a number of unanswered questions about the monitoring systems they committed to as a condition of the US government extending the well integrity test. Last night a conference call between the federal science team and BP representatives [...]
According to a story posted by the Associated Press, around 3:45 p.m., BP reported that oil had, at least for the time being, stopped gushing into the Gulf of Mexico. Watch the live feeds here on BP.com. Right now, BP is conducting testing to determine that the cap isn’t causing undue pressure below it. If [...]
Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar today directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement (BOEM) to issue new suspensions of deepwater drilling on the Outer Continental Shelf (OCS), saying a pause is needed to ensure that oil and gas companies first implement adequate safety measures to reduce the risks associated with deepwater [...]
National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen recently announced the launch of a new federal web portal—RestoreTheGulf.gov “dedicated to providing the American people with clear and accessible information and resources related to the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill response and recovery.” (Please keep in mind this is a government website, so BrowardNETOnline.com holds no responsibility for [...]
Continuing his commitment to recovery efforts in the Gulf of Mexico, Governor Charlie Crist today called a Special Session of the Florida Legislature from July 20, 2010 through July 23, 2010, to address a constitutional amendment banning offshore drilling in Florida waters. This is a logical next step to the repeated calls by local and county [...]
NOAA has used modeling of historical wind and ocean currents to project the likelihood that surface oil from the Deepwater Horizon/BP oil spill will impact additional U.S. coastline. This modeling, part of NOAA’s comprehensive response to the unprecedented Gulf oil disaster, can help guide the ongoing preparedness, response and cleanup efforts.
The Florida Peninsula Command Post Unified Command announced Saturday plans to establish a group of Qualified Community Responders (QCR) in Monroe County to prepare for the possibility that oil products need to be cleaned from beaches. While there is no imminent threat of weathered oil products reaching the Florida Keys, there is a need to [...]
Agency for Workforce Innovation Director Cynthia R. Lorenzo today issued an advisory warning Floridians to be wary of companies offering beach cleanup jobs for a fee. Recent reports indicate some Floridians have paid fees to submit applications or undergo training for oil spill-related jobs, only to later discover the advertised jobs were not available or [...]
As more reports about BP, the handling of the oil spill, its equipment, its lack of a safety record continues to dominate the media, it profiles a company that appears to be as slick and toxic as the oil itself.
On June 10, 2010 at the Broward County League of Cities board meeting, a resolution opposing offshore oil drilling passed unanimously. Included in the resolution’s language, it “strongly encourages all elected officials at the City, County and State levels to request the State government to consider enacting legislation including, but not limited to, proposing a state constitutional amendment [...]
Florida’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for May 2010 is 11.7 percent. This represents 1,086,000 jobless out of a labor force of 9,272,000. The unemployment rate is down 0.3 percentage point from the April rate of 12.0 percent. This was the second monthly decline in the state’s unemployment rate since February 2006.
Governor Charlie Crist today unveiled Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs, a Web site that allows job seekers to locate and apply for positions created in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Florida Gulf Recovery Jobs, found at www.floridagulfrecoveryjobs.com, is a dedicated portal through Florida’s official online job bank, the Employ Florida Marketplace, currently listing more than [...]
As Prepared for Delivery- Good evening. As we speak, our nation faces a multitude of challenges. At home, our top priority is to recover and rebuild from a recession that has touched the lives of nearly every American. Abroad, our brave men and women in uniform are taking the fight to al Qaeda wherever it [...]
Scientists, for the fifth time, have increased the estimate of how much oil is actually flowing from the Deepwater Horizon well in the Gulf of Mexico. In new estimates released Tuesday, the U.S. government and independent scientists said the spill could go as high as 60,000 barrels a day gushing out of the well.Initially, the [...]
NASA’s Aqua satellite flew over the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, June 10 at 19:05 UTC (3:05 p.m. EDT) and the satellite’s Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) instrument captured an image of the thickest part of the oil slick.
