Franklin County approves new booming plan for Bob Sikes Cut

Franklin County Commissioners on Wednesday signed off on a new plan to keep oil from coming in through the Bob Sikes Cut.

The board agreed to a plan created by the Coast Guard and the Department of Environmental Protection that will allow the placement of heavy navy ocean deflection boom.

The boom is much larger than that which has already been placed around the Apalachicola Bay and will be held in place by large 3000 pound anchors.

The boom will be placed off the mouth of the cut in a way that would hopefully divert any oil away from the cut to collection locations off of St. George Island and Little St. George Island.

The county had initially planned to protect the cut by placing large barges at the site, but this new plan is much less expensive, much quicker to deploy, and already has the blessing of BP who will have to pay for it.

The boom will be deployed if it seems that oil is within 10 days of moving into the Apalachicola Bay.

It will be placed and maintained by the US Navy.

And while the board did approve the plan, at least one commissioner is not fully comfortable with it.

Commissioner Pinki Jackel said that the fact the BP is on board with the plan is probably the best reason there is to oppose it and she figures the only reason BP likes it is because it is the cheapest alternative.

The county has also agreed to begin removing boom from the Apalachicola Bay.

The Department of Environmental Protection said that there is a tropical wave that could impact our area and that could cause any deployed boom to actually damage the resource its being used to protect.

Mike Sole said that at this time there is really no need to have the boom in the bay because the oil from the BP oil gusher seems to be tracking to the west away from Franklin County.

He said removing the boom will help protect it and will also get it out of the way of local fishermen.

The boom will likely be stored in Tallahassee and will only be redeployed if necessary.

While the commission did agree to the request but were not real happy about it, especially about the idea of taking the boom out of the county.

Commissioners said that they had to fight to get the boom in the first place and they do not want to see it redeployed to another county.



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