Florida has received a 25 million dollar block grant to help pay for preparation and response costs to the Deepwater Horizon Response oil spill. Governor Charlie Crist made the announcement on Tuesday after receiving word that the BP oil company would make the money available.
Governor Crist said the block grant from BP will be used to take proactive measures to help prevent the devastating impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and to protect Florida’s beaches and the health and well-being of our residents and visitors.
The guiding principles of the use of these funds will be to protect the coastal zone to include shoreline, near shore, state waters and subsea zones. The money will also help coordinate and facilitate an effective response to protect the sensitive marine environments of Florida threatened by the spill and to provide local governments the ability to protect areas not included in the Area Contingency Plan that they believe to have local significance.
Franklin County is already taking steps to apply for a portion of the money to make sure that any response the county has to take is paid for. On Tuesday the county commission agreed to hire a company called Calvin, Giordano and Associates which has some expertise in oil spill response, and more importantly in how to apply for the money needed to fund the local response.
The company will help create a written plan to respond to all aspects of the oil spill ranging from the boom strategy and oil dispersal to how to manage volunteers who might be needed to combat the oil slick. They will also help with the paperwork needed to insure that all of our local responses are approved and that they are paid for by BP.
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