The Florida Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the lead state agency for responding to impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill along Florida’s shoreline. This website is the primary location for updates and information on response actions, impacts and recovery efforts in the state of Florida.
On Tuesday, April 20, 2010 an offshore oil drilling platform, Deepwater Horizon, exploded in the Gulf of Mexico near Louisiana. The rig, owned by Transocean Ltd, was under contract to BP. The State Emergency Operations Center (EOC) activated on April 30 in response to this event. The Deepwater Horizon well was capped on July 15, 2010 and is no longer discharging oil into the Gulf of Mexico. On Friday, August 27, 2010 the State Emergency Operations Center transitioned to a Level 3 monitoring status, marking the second longest activation in EOC history at 120 days.
It is likely that beaches in Northwest Florida will continue to receive isolated impacts, mainly scattered tar balls, in the coming months caused by natural tides and weather conditions. It is possible that immediately following any tropical activity, lingering ocean swells and higher tides could push offshore tar ball fields closer to the coast. State emergency management officials continue to coordinate with federal, state and local partners to ensure that any further impacts to Florida’s coastline are removed quickly and efficiently.
Visit www.RestoreTheGulf.gov for more information on the other response and recovery efforts.
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2010 State of Florida