PANAMA CITY — Bay County is getting a chunk of the first civil penalty money secured from the BP oil spill, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection (FDEP) announced Friday.
The state will use the $10 million for stormwater management projects and land acquisition.
On June 18, MOEX Offshore 2007 LLC, a non-operating investor on the lease site where the spill occurred, entered into a consent decree with the U.S. Department of Justice, agreeing to pay $70 million in civil penalty fees for alleged Clean Water Act violations and $20 million for land acquisition, helping preserve Gulf states’ environment and habitat.
A total of $45 million went directly to the Gulf states, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). MOEX no longer owns a share in the lease.
The state’s $10 million will be split evenly between land acquisition and stormwater management. The settlement money does not affect the state’s other claims against companies involved in the spill, including BP, according to FDEP’s statement.
The FDEP will manage the $5 million for stormwater projects. The money will go toward seven projects in Bay, Okaloosa and Santa Rosa counties, said Kendra Parson, FDEP’s Gulf Coast public affairs manager.
Bay County has two of these projects. One is for a project on Watson Bayou, and its design phase is complete. The project will go out for bid Jan. 1, Parson said. The other project will affect St. Andrew Bay and is being designed right now.
Watson Bayou will benefit from the Spring Avenue stormwater facility, which is being designed and permitted by the county. Total project cost is estimated at $800,000, Parson said. It will be ready for bid early next year.
CountyPublic Worksdirector Ken Schnell said the project will relocate part of a walking track and enlarge a pond in Joe Moody Harris Park.
“It will hold more stormwater for a longer period of time,” Schnell said of the pond.
The larger pond will treat stormwater by allowing nutrients and heavy metals to settle out before the water progresses further. The project is expected to finish by the end of 2013, Schnell said.
The Northwest Florida Water Management District is handling design and permits for the St. Andrew Bay project, which will build a retrofit facility at a pond on Lisenby Avenue. The facility will treat the water and remove nutrients before it flows into Lake Caroline and ultimately the bay, said Lauren Engel, communications director for the management district.
The project is in its early phase, and major design work will start with the New Year. The management district hopes to have design work finished by late summer and then move into the permitting phase.
“We’re excited [about the project] because water quality is one of our core missions,” Engel said.
The Lisenby facility’s total estimated cost is $775,000, Parson said.
The other stormwater project locations include Destin, Gulf Breeze and Fort Walton Beach, as well as two affecting Cinco Bayou, Parson said.
The other $5 million will be overseen by The Trust for Public Land, which will acquire “environmentally sensitive lands” along the Panhandle, Parson said. This land includes Escribano Point west of Eglin Air Force Base, which will be managed by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC).
“It’s a pretty significant land acquisition and will provide tremendous benefits for Florida,” Parson said.
The acquisition means the Escribano Point Florida Forever project is 91 percent complete, which protects runoff into grassbeds and oyster bars in the Pensacola Bay system, Parson said.
“These funds will support jobs at Eglin Air Force Base by providing base leaders with more buffer zone land — and millions will go into clean water projects, so Florida continues its progress in protecting and restoring our state’s natural waterbodies,” Gov. Rick Scott said in a statement.
