Deepwater Horizon Oil
Spill Response & Restoration |
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When an oil spill occurs, federal law, the
Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA), has established a system
for federal and states agencies and the party responsible for the spill to
cooperate and restore the affected area to its pre-spill
condition. Response and restoration are two different aspects of
the process created by OPA that share the broad goal of
ultimately returning the impacted area to its original state
before the spill occurred. The purpose of response is to execute
an emergency clean up and remove the oil
spilled. Restoration involves the process of determining the
extent of damage to natural resources resulting from the spill
and the long term process of bringing damaged resources back to
their original state.
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 and is playing a key
role in the restoration process. This website is the primary
location for updates and information on response actions,
impacts and recovery efforts in the state of Florida. Visit
www.RestoreTheGulf.gov
for more information on response and restoration efforts across all
Gulf States.
Claims & Information
All economic damage claims are handled by the
Gulf Coast Claims Facility. Some beaches in Northwest Florida will continue to see isolated oil impacts influenced by natural tides and varying weather conditions. If you encounter oil product in the water or on the beach do not touch it. All sampling conducted and analyzed in Florida has registered below levels of concern for
human health benchmarks.
Current beach sampling data is available at
Beach Health Results website.
Restoration
DEP is playing a key role in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill restoration process. Restoration efforts are occurring throughout the Gulf States
and are being facilitated by the
Deepwater Horizon Trustee Council and the
Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force. The trustees and task force members are evaluating the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon spill on natural resources and working on behalf of the public to restore, replace, rehabilitate or acquire the equivalent of these resources.
Response
DEP is the lead state agency for responding to impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill along Florida’s shoreline. DEP
and state emergency management officials continue to
coordinate with federal, state and local partners to
ensure that any continued impacts to Florida’s
coastline are removed quickly and efficiently.
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Important Phone Numbers
- Claims
(800) 916-4893
- Report Oil
(800) 320-0519
- Environment/Community Hotline
(866) 448-5816
Media Contacts
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Deepwater Horizon Incident Joint Information Center
(713) 323-1670
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DEP Press Office
(850) 245-2112
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Last updated:
May 09, 2011
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3900 Commonwealth Boulevard M.S. 49
Tallahassee, Florida 32399
850-245-2118 (phone) / 850-245-2128 (fax) |
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