Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key Update
Friday, July 2 – 10:45 a.m. – Update #29
* Weather – Temperatures are expected to be near 92 degrees with winds from the east northeast. Chance of rain is 40 percent. Thundershowers will impact cleanup efforts both on the beaches and in the water. For safety reasons, if lightning is in the area, crews will be unable to continue working.
* Tropical Update – The higher tides and heavier surf conditions will begin to diminish today as a result of Hurricane Alex. Booms remain deployed and may need to be repositioned if conditions warrant.
* Perdido and Pensacola Passes – Sheen was seen at the mouth of Bayou Grande and a dispersed patch of tar balls at Buoy #8. Two five foot patches of heavy brown mousse were observed in Perdido Pass.
* Incident Command has 1,490 people ready for beach cleanup, weather permitting.
* No reports on the amount of oiled sand collected in the last 24 hours or the number of skimmers for the bay have been received by Incident Command.
* The Escambia County Health Department is posting an Oil Impact Notice for the Gulf beach waters in Escambia County, Florida. This notice will remain in place until Escambia County Gulf beaches are no longer impacted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. This notice includes the beaches under the control of the Gulf Islands National Seashore, the University of West Florida and Perdido Key Sate Park. (More Information)
* The Escambia County Health Department has release information on avoiding oil and tar on the beaches. (More Information).
* Please do not handle or walk through the tar balls and oil. This only spreads the product and makes cleanup more difficult.
* Cleaning stations have been placed next to the crossovers (between the crossovers and the roadways) to aid in the removal of tar and oil.
* County officials are currently working with Unified Command to establish recreational and commercial decontamination stations for vessels (boats and watercraft).
* “Hot shot†teams will respond to specific requests during the day as needed.
* Oil reports vary widely throughout the day as heat from the sun brings subsurface oil to the top, and cooler temperatures at night tend to cause it to sink below the surface.
* A fishing closure is in effect from the state line east to the Pensacola Beach water tower, extending nine nautical miles into the gulf. Catch and release recreational fishing is still allowed.
Pensacola Beach
* Tar balls can be seen covering up to 10 percent of Pensacola Beach.
* Cleanup crews were on the beach last night and crews working today as weather permits.
* Heavy equipment is being utilized on Pensacola Beach. Work will continue as weather permits.
* Harvesting of fish is allowed east of the Pensacola Beach water tower.
* Escambia County has opened field offices on Pensacola Beach to assist in answering questions from the public and act as staging areas for the county monitoring teams. The Pensacola Beach field office will be located at 5 Via Deluna, Suite 8. The phone number is 934-6500.
* Pensacola Beach remains open for business.
* Pensacola Beach events and activities
* Pensacola Beach live web cam
Perdido Key
* Along Perdido Key, tar balls can be seen covering up to 10 percent of the beach.
* Cleanup crews were on the beach last night and crews working today as weather permits.
* Escambia County has opened field offices on Perdido Key to assist in answering questions from the public and act as staging areas for the county monitoring teams. The Perdido Key field office will be located at 13578 Perdido Key Drive The phone number is 791-6905.
* Perdido Key remains open for business.
* Perdido Key events and activities at www.visitperdidokey.com
* Perdido Key live web cam at www.visitperdidokey.com
Pensacola
* Events and activities for Pensacola, Pensacola Beach and Perdido Key are listed at www.visitpensacola.com.
Important Phone Numbers
* Report oiled shoreline to 1-877-389-8932 or #DEP from a cell phone.
* Report oiled wildlife to 1-866-557-1401.