Franklin County now under state of emergency

Governor Charlie Crist has declared a state of emergency for 13 Gulf Coast counties threatened by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

Governor Crist made the declaration Monday – the state of emergency includes Franklin, Gulf, Wakulla and Jefferson counties.

Currently the Gulf Coast is being threatened by a spill which began on April the 22nd and is growing by an estimated 5000 barrels a day. More than 2,000 personnel are involved in the response effort which has recovered more than a million gallons of an oil-water mix so far.

So far in Florida, 87,900 feet of boom has been deployed In the Pensacola area with 41,000 feet staged. 17,000 feet of boom has been staged in Panama City, with another 13,000 feet of boom on order.

Franklin County has issued a local state of emergency and the Franklin County Emergency Management office is now on level 2 activation. It is also holding daily meetings to coordinate any response to the threat.

Currently the Apalachicola Riverkeeper are coordinating local volunteer efforts. They are adding a page to their website where folks can sign up to help.

You can find their website at www.apalachicolariverkeeper.org.


http://www.oysterradio.com e-mail manager@oysterradio.com with comments