Oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico at an estimated rate of 210,000 gallons per day could reach Floridas shores late this week, and the states Gulf Coast businesses are bracing for the worst.
Gov. Charlie Crist has declared an in-advance state of emergency in the following coastal counties: Franklin, Wakulla, Jefferson, Taylor, Dixie, Levy, Citrus, Hernando, Pasco, Pinellas, Hillsborough, Manatee and Sarasota.
This is going to be huge for us economically, and right now everybody is in panic mode, said Ray Boyer, general manager of Marias Fresh Seafood Market in Pensacola, one of the areas that could be hardest hit by the spill.
Since the BP-leased Deepwater Horizon rig in the Gulf of Mexico exploded, residents and businesses have been waiting on tenterhooks to see if its oil would reach the states shores.
And Floridas executive branch spent Monday assuring voters that BP would pay for damages and will be closely watched.
It creates a significant concern that the party that created the problem is now the party thats going to be responsible for solving the problem, Gov. Charlie Crist said.
The Deepwater Horizon oil rig caught fire and exploded April 20 because of an equipment failure. Afterward, an estimated 5,000 barrels of oil per day began leaking into the Gulf of Mexico from three holes in the rigs well.
Louisiana is currently the state most endangered by the spill, Secretary of the Florida Department of Environmental Protection Michael Sole said at a press conference Monday morning.
He said the wind has kept the oil away from Florida so far, but the states Gulf Coast areas, especially the Pensacola area, could be in danger if the wind direction changes later in the week. The spill could affect as far down the coastline as Tampa Bay and the Florida Keys. And, if it gets caught in the loop current, it will arrive on the East Coast.
The DEP later said that Floridas shores were projected to be safe from the spill through Thursday.
In the meantime, BP has installed more than 79,000 feet of protective boom in the Pensacola area. On Sunday the U.S. closed its federal waters in the Gulf to fishermen for at least 10 days.
The local waters of Pensacola are already starting to get crowded with competition, and the supply of fish could dry up, Boyer said. The closure of federal waters has meant that fishermen will be cluttering local waters, and the East Bay, a common harvesting ground for the market, is already crowded.
Everyones trying to get whats in house right now before the oil gets here, Boyer said.
BP has been trying to activate its built-in system to plug one of the leaks but has been unsuccessful. Its also creating a dome to cover the leaks, but such a method has never been tried in deep water and would take a week.
It is also considering drilling a release well to relieve the pressure on the leaking well, but it would take 90 days.
Dave Rauschkolb, organizer of the anti-offshore drilling Hands Across the Sand event held throughout Florida in February, said that the spill is an unprecedented disaster and the full effects cannot be foreseen. But the owner of Bud & Alleys Seafood Restaurant in Seaside fears lost business in the peak season and higher prices for locally bought seafood.
I had a crawfish pasta, and I thought, You know, this might be the last time I have a crawfish pasta' in awhile, Rauschkolb said.
Beach tourism made for nearly half the areas $133 million in tourism revenue in Pensacola last year, said Laura Lee, spokesman for the Pensacola Bay Area Convention and Visitors Bureau. Lee said that even if the spill doesnt hit Pensacola, it could deter beachgoers. She said the tourist industry is keeping tourists informed about the status of the spill.
On Sunday, Florida Attorney General Bill McCollum, a Republican gubernatorial hopeful, met with the attorneys general from Alabama, Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi and agreed to hold BP responsible for all legitimate government expenses associated with the spill.
"They say they're going to produce, and we believe they are," McCollum said of BP.
In the meantime, state Chief Financial Officer and Democratic gubernatorial candidate Alex Sink is proposing that the federal Small Business Administration provide disaster loans and grants to small businesses to help them recover from the disaster.
Rauschkolb said that he hopes the spill has killed any consideration of off-shore oil drilling near the coast by the Florida Legislature.
No one industry should have the ability to put entire coastal economies and entire coastal ecosystems at risk, he said.
Reach Alex Tiegen at atiegen@sunshinestatenews.com, or at (561) 329-5389.
