My New Blog

For More Information, go to live links on www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or just send an email to MykeSaysSold@aol.com and let me know what information you would like to know.  I'll try to find it for you.

for more information stay with www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send questions to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

For more live links and information go to www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send a question to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

? Health Advisories have been issued for Escambia, Okaloosa and Walton

Counties. Escambia County, Ft. Pickens and Johnson National Seashore are

line to Pelican Beach Resort in Destin. Walton County from Miramar Beach

? Tar balls, tar patties and mousse continue to be found in Northwest Florida, with

? Perdido Pass, Pensacola Pass and Destin Pass will be closed with the tide to

? Oil Containment Boom (in feet) total: 567,261 deployed in Florida.

o Tier 1: 234,800 / Tier 2: 132,800 / Tier 3: 199,661

? In accordance with established plans, protective booming, staging, and boom

? 370 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.

? 863 Qualified Community Responders are actively working the cleanup efforts in

? According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume is 7 miles from Pensacola,

75 miles from Mexico Beach and 293 miles from St. Petersburg. NOAA

? In addition to $100,000 for Volunteer Florida to maintain a volunteer registration

? BP claims in Florida total 20,431 with approximately $17,911,674.95 paid.

? A US Coast Guard representative for Unified Command Mobile is on scene at the

For more information, follow the live links at www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send a question to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

For more information and live links, stick with www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send a note to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

For more information on Oil slick stay with www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send a note to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

For more information and more links, go to www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or send a note to MykeSaysSold@aol.com

June 23, 2010

NOAA has opened more than 8,000 square miles of previously closed fishing area in the Gulf of Mexico, because the agency has not observed oil in the area. The most significant opening is an area due south of Mississippi which was closed Monday, June 21.

Additionally, some smaller areas were opened off the Louisiana and central Florida coasts.

These areas were initially closed as a precaution because oil was projected to be within those areas over the next few days. However, the review of satellite imagery, radar and aerial data indicated that oil had not moved into these areas.

The federal closed area does not apply to any state waters. Closing fishing in this area is a precautionary measure to ensure that seafood from the Gulf will remain safe for consumers.

The closed area now represents 78,597 square miles, which is approximately 32.5 percent of Gulf of Mexico federal waters. This leaves more than two-thirds of Gulf federal waters available for fishing. The closure will be effective at 6 p.m. EDT. Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/. The last closed area modification was June 21, when 86,985 square miles were closed to fishing, or roughly 36 percent of federal waters of the Gulf.

? Escambia County has posted a Health Advisory this morning from Alabama State

? Today, June 23, mousse was discovered between the Pensacola Beach Pier and

? Dime to five inch-sized tar balls and tar patties continue to be found in northwest

? Perdido Pass, Pensacola Pass and Destin Pass will be closed with the tide to

? Oil Containment Boom (in feet) total: 557,261 deployed in Florida.

o Tier 1: 221,700 / Tier 2: 132,800 / Tier 3: 202,761

? In accordance with established plans, protective booming, staging, and boom

? 397 vessels are deployed in Florida for the Vessels of Opportunity program.

? 694 Qualified Community Responders are actively working the cleanup efforts in

? According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil plume is 5 miles from Pensacola,

? In addition to $100,000 for Volunteer Florida to maintain a volunteer registration

Trajectory for June 24 and 25 2010.  Next blog will give close up of Destin Coastline.  Return to www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com for the latest linked information, or just call me and I'll try to find an answer for you.

Today, NOAA modified the commercial and recreational fishing closure in the oil-affected portions of the Gulf of Mexico. This closure (see map) is effective on June 21, 2010 at 6 p.m. eastern time (5 p.m. central time). All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area; however, transit through the area is allowed. The closure measures 86,985 sq mi (225,290 sq km) and covers about 36% of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone. The majority of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico are open to commercial and recreational fishing. Any changes to the closure are announced daily at 12 p.m. Eastern at sero.nmfs.noaa.gov and take effect at 6 p.m. Eastern the same day.

For more up to date information about the oil and weather affecting theFlorida Gulf Coast, to to www.destinhomerealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com or www.MykeTriebold.com   If there are questions you have but don't find the answers here, let me know and I will find the source for you!!

Information for those of you who have ideas on how to clean up the Gulf of Mexico or even just a shoreline?  Here is your contact information:

Option 2

Thousands of people have submitted possible ideas on how to stop or contain the oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

More than 20,000 ideas on how to stop the flow of oil or contain the oil spill have been sent to BP since the Gulf of Mexico incident.  These ideas have flooded in from people across the world, ranging from ordinary members of the public to oil industry professionals, and in many languages from Arabic to Russian.

BP has implemented a process to review and evaluate all of these suggestions.

There are two ways to submit a suggestion in this option:

1. Call the Houston suggestion line at (281) 366-5511
2. Fill out the online suggestion form at http://www.horizonedocs.com/artform.php

Each caller to the Houston suggestion line has their details entered into the Horizon Call Center database. The database then automatically generates and sends the caller a simple form, termed the Alternative Response Technologies form, for them to set out the details of their idea.

Alternatively, the online form is a valuable tool in helping the team to systematically review the technical merits of the idea, as it allows the caller to describe the materials, equipment and skills needed for it to work.

Winds are forecast to continue to be relatively light (less than 10 knots) and variable this weekend, then become more persistently onshore (SE) Monday night through Tuesday. Trajectories indicate continued slow movement of the slick to the east. Coastal regions between Dauphin Island, Alabama and Panama City, Florida continue to be threatened by shoreline contacts within this forecast period. More persistent SE winds later in the forecast period will begin to increase the threat of shoreline contacts to the Chandeleur Islands and the Mississippi Delta.

Closures

NOAA Fisheries Service is not modifying the fishery closure in the Gulf of Mexico today. The June 16 closure is still in effect. Any changes to the closure are announced daily at 12 p.m. Eastern at sero.nmfs.noaa.gov and take effect at 6 p.m. Eastern the same day.

For More Links and Information, stay tuned on this website.  I will update as long as there is information to relay!!  remember www.DestinHomeRealtor.com or www.OilSlickDestin.com for all your information.

June 18, 2010
Contact: Lee Schlesinger, 850-487-0554

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) wants everyone to know that even though some recreational and commercial saltwater fishing seasons have been temporarily extended and people can saltwater fish without a license on Father's Day weekend, all other Florida saltwater fishing regulations are still in effect.

The FWC has recently issued orders to open the recreational bay scallop season 12 days early this year (on June 19), allow additional harvest days and extend open harvest areas for Apalachicola Bay commercial oyster fishermen this summer, and establish a free fishing weekend on June 19-20 to help relieve impacts some Florida fishing communities and industries are experiencing because of the BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

However, all other commercial and recreational saltwater fishing regulations, including size and bag limits, fishing gear restrictions, seasons and other related provisions remain unchanged and will be enforced. 

? Florida beaches are open.

? Unified Area Command estimates release rate of oil from Deepwater Horizon at

35,000 to 60,000 barrels per day. Optimization of the dual recovery system (LMRP

She was assisting a group of 14 snorkelers and nine divers when “the tide started hitting the jetties” and customers started coming back on the boat with an extra layer of film, which smelled distinctly like oil.

“We had to wash the people off to get the smell off of them,” said Carla Moore, Scuba Tech co-owner.

Scuba Tech owners and employees believe that Wednesday’s trip was their last for some time and they have already noticed a dramatic drop in business.

“I have noticed that I have not received a lot of calls this morning,” Moore said Thursday.

Epp said that the customers, despite being covered in crude oil, were very understanding.

“They were aware of it and were actually nice about it,” said Epp. “They felt bad for us. They understood that it was our last trip.”

On Thursday, Epp and Moore sat in the store, as information continued to roll in about plans for the East Pass.

“I think I can still smell it on me,” said Epp.

The crew was not the only ones to report the sight and smell of oil near the jetties. Jokerman Capt. Andy Stempki reported hitting oil about 150 yards from the mouth of the pass.

“It stinks like diesel,” he said.

The city of Destin even issued a warning Wednesday night stating that “Oil product has been spotted near East Pass. The Coast Guard and other BP resources have been notified and are being deployed ASAP to the area.”

An area of "red product and tar balls" about 5 yards wide and 1/4 mile long was just 3/4 mile off Okaloosa Island near the East Pass.  Hundreds of tar balls were reported early in the morning in the lower tidal zone by Norriego Point.

A five-mile stretch of Miramar Beach was scattered with pinhead- to quarter-sized tar balls around 4:30 p.m. Tar balls were also found at Top Sail Hill and Blue Mountain Beach.

In Santa Rosa County, a "tar patty string" and "black, molten high tide zone" were reported about 5 p.m. on Gulf Islands National Seashore. The beach was closed to cleanup crews by the National Park Service due to nesting birds.

More tar balls and an oiled foil drink pouch also hit Navarre Beach.

Tar balls were reported at Henderson Beach State Park at around 3 p.m. and again around 5:30 p.m., according to the State Emergency Response Team. An oiled rope also washed up on the beach near Cobia Street.

The product, or "tarballs"  we’re looking at now is highly weathered when it hits the beach, and it is supposedly one of the easiest forms to collect and pick up.  There are crews on the beach to clean them up and the number of the crews is expected to be increased.

From the air above the Gulf of Mexico, it was evident that the oil coming in was more than isolated patches. Sheen was floating in what vaguely resembled schools of huge fish. Clumps of coppery oil appeared occasionally along with the sheen.

The waters of the Destin Pass will be closed to traffic Wednesday at 7 p.m. Coast Guard booms would be deployed across the pass and at the Destin bridge.  The time was chosen because that’s when the tide is high and water from the gulf is moving into the pass.  The pass will be opened again at low tide when water is flowing in the other direction, then closed again when the tides change.

Destin charter boat association officials were scrambling late Wednesday to notify local boat captains hired to operate oil skimmers for British Petroleum of the impending closure.  They did not want the captains to find themselves stuck inside Destin Harbor and unable to work and make money.  The Coast Guard booms to be installed when the pass is closed will supplement chevron booming the county has already done.

It is hoped a massive boom laid across the pass entrance will help sweep spill residue to collection points installed by the county.  Booms will also be put in at the Destin bridge and across two channels on the north end of the pass. These will serve as a last resort to prevent oil from getting into Choctawhatchee Bay.

Poulin, of the USCG personally issued the authority to implement all measures the county has requested to use in preventing oil from entering the pass.  “We’ve had generous and expedited cooperation,” Mr. Villani, of Okaloosa County, said.  The Okaloosa County Commission had decided Monday to circumvent the authority of Poulin and the Unified Command set up to oversee spill response by voting to allow Villani to act without the command’s permission if that became necessary.  It doesn’t appear now Villani will have to take independent action.  The county received approval Wednesday to install air and slip curtains, put in foam-filled pipe booms and wall in the pass entrance with barges.  It will still likely be several days before either of the curtains or the pipe booms can be installed.  Villani said the county’s plan to line six barges up across the entrance to the pass when it is closed “is probably a few days out.”

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also announced Wednesday that it had extended the area of federal waters closed to fishing to Panama City Beach.

For the first time since the oil began washing up along the Florida Panhandle, officials closed the pass that links the Gulf of Mexico to the region's inland waterways. The Coast Guard monitored boom that sealed the Destin Pass overnight Wednesday as high tide moved the oil and tar toward the area.

The booms collected some oil overnight, which means that they're working and that crews have relayed no reports of oil inside the pass. Destin is known for it's large charter boat fleet. Boats hired weeks ago by BP to skim oil and monitor boom were notified Wednesday that they were being activated to protect the area's waterways.

The Sandestin Golf and Beach Resort dug an 18-inch-deep and 3-foot-wide trench at the high-water mark in an effort to trap any oil that washes up.

So what does it mean to “purchase” a search term? Well, it certainly doesn’t make all the negative results go away. Today, for instance, a Google search for “oil spill” returned a range of results, including a Huffington Post article and a Wikipedia entry on oil spills.

But the very top result is a shaded advertisement from BP, trumpeting the company’s clean-up efforts. “Learn More about How BP is Helping,” the advertisement reads.

Response Numbers

Because of the large number of oil containment booms and cleanup equipment being deployed around the state in response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission's (FWC) Boating and Waterways Section is asking boaters to slow down where oil cleanup is under way.

The FWC encourages all boaters to operate at slow speed within 300 feet of all authorized booms. Boaters operating near any oil-containment booms or cleanup equipment should exercise extreme caution and comply with all applicable navigational rules. Oil-skimming equipment is large and cumbersome, and it is restricted in its ability to maneuver. As a result, boaters should be prepared to stay clear of these vessels when operating near them.

Failure to operate at slow speed in these areas could result in injury, damage to vessels and damage to the containment booms. Additionally, the wake that results from a vessel operating above slow speed in areas where a boom has been deployed can reduce the effectiveness of the boom, resulting in further environmental damage.

It is very hard to understand the paralysis of our government at every level in dealing with catastrophic situations.  We saw Katrina coming, and did nothing until 3 days after when pictures were all over the television of people dying on the sidewalk.  Appalling in the "most powerful" nation on earth!  Now, we see the Oil Catastrophe in the Gulf of Mexico.  We didn't see it coming until the night the rig exploded, (although knowing what we NOW know about MMS, we should have seen this coming), but that was 50+ days ago.  What ineptitude!  As David Gergen put it on CNN, if we had fought WW II with the same level of energy and organization, we would all be speaking German today.  As someone else put it, this is the equivalent of putting our Apollo Astronauts on the moon, and then deciding we better make a plan to bring them back to earth!! 

I don't want to point fingers--enough blame to go around, and blame doesn't fix the problem.  As I watch economic lives go down the "drain" in oil and I worry about those still standing waiting for the catastrophe to hit them, I have to wonder what will become of us as a nation--what will we do when "the big" earthquake hits the west Coast, and we know it will?  Nature has lots of catastrophes for humankind, and nature always wins--the question is how we deal with it.  So far, the human race, for thinking it is so smart, has been terribly stupid!

Come on, folks--let's really be patriots, stop blaming, get down and dirty and clean up this man made disaster with whatever "elbow grease" and money it takes!  To be really patriotic means to look out for your neighbor, your community, and your country--don't place blame--be a part of the solution.  We will worry about "responsibility" for the catastrophe after we have cleaned up what we all played a roll in creating--the need for MORE OIL!

Sporadic reports of tarballs and/or areas of light sheen have been confirmed byreconnaissance teams from Escambia to Bay County.

Okaloosa County and the U.S. Coast Guard have developed a boom plan for the Destin Pass that could be the best oil deflection strategy on the Gulf Coast.  But it will be later in the week at least before the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers issues the permit required for the booms to be deployed. The new plan was devised this weekend after the Coast Guard ordered the removal of booms set in its navigable waters.The most recent plan calls for permanent pilings fitted with flashing lights to be constructed at strategic points within the Destin Pass and boom to be extended 400 feet from the shoreline to the piling.  It is hoped any Deepwater Horizon oil residue carried into the pass will be pushed by the prevailing currents into the catch basins formed by the chevron shaped booming.

The most frustrating part for many of the residents along the Gulf Coast has been the seemingly slow response to getting permits and approvals from the government bureaucracy.  It would appear that the Florida coast isn't going to have any faster responses than Louisiana did!  For up to the minute information and maps linking you to other internet sites for information, please go to www.DestinHomeRealtor.com and click on the links.  You can also go to www.DestinOilSlick.com .

• June 6, dime to quarter-sized tar balls continue to be found in widely scattered areas from the Alabama state line east to Bay County. Clean up teams are on site.

Earlier reports of tar balls washing up on Destin beaches had alarmed local officials and residents. That information was the result of a miscommunication between Santa Rosa County and the state Emergency Operations Center, said Joy Tsubooka, public information officer for Santa Rosa County.

Okaloosa's director of public safety, Dino Villani, confirmed Thursday there are no tar balls on Destin beaches.

An oil sheen has also been reported six miles off of Navarre Pier

Horizon Hotline:

• Environmental Hotline/Community Information - 866-448-5816     
• Assistance Hotline/Boom Reports - 281-366-5511   
  Vessels of Opportunity (boats) - 281-366-5511             
• Wildlife Distress Hotline - 866-557-1401               
• PEC Hotline (Specialty Volunteer Training) - 866-647-2338            
• Claims Hotline - 800-440-0858

If you are interested in the most up to date information regarding the quality of a beach in Florida, you can go to this site to check the latest report from the oil spill.

http://esetappsdoh.doh.state.fl.us/irm00beachwater/default.aspx

According to the NOAA oil plume model, the oil spill is 80 miles southwest of Pensacola,
125 miles from Mexico Beach, and 300 miles from St. Petersburg. The non contiguous sheens and
scattered tarballs are within 210 miles of St. Petersburg.

• No direct oil impacts are expected across any part of the state within the next 3 days. Southerly winds of
5-10knots and fairly calm seas are expected across the northern-central Gulf today, but a 30-40%
chance of rain and thunderstorms may hamper some surface recovery operations. Winds will begin
to shift to the southwest by Tuesday and will increase slightly through the week before turning
 west Friday. This wind flow pattern may push areas of light sheen and tarballs closer to the Gulf
Coast this week.  

“We are working around the clock to keep the oil off the shoreline and have had the gift of time to plan for its arrival,” said Capt. Steven Poulin, incident commander for the Coast Guard.  “The projections are of concern.  This is a dynamic situation influenced by a wide variety of environmental factors, so while we’re not certain where or what the impact will be, but we’re prepared.” 

More than 6,000 people are participating in this aggressive response effort both in open water and on the shoreline of Miss., Ala., and Fla. Panhandle.