LTC 153-2010 Oil Spill from the Deepwater Horizon Explosionm- ~~;n I A M l~ E
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # 153-2010 LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor Matti Herrera Bower and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager C~
DATE: May 21, 2010 U .__
SUBJECT: Oil Spill from the Deepwater Horizon Explosion
The purpose of this LTC is to update the Commission as to the status of the oil spill, and the
planning efforts currently underway by Miami Dade County, the State of Florida and the City.
BACKGROUND
The City of Miami Beach Office of Emergency Management (OEM) has been monitoring this
incident and is working closely with the Miami-Dade Office of Emergency Management (MDOEM).
The Miami-Dade Emergency Operations Center (EOC) is at a Level 3 (Monitoring) for the
Deepwater Horizon Gulf oil spill. On May 6, 2010, I attended a meeting, along with Assistant City
Managers Hilda Fernandez and Robert Middaugh, which was held by the MDOEM and Mayor
Alvarez. It was a planning meeting at the EOC with representatives from coastal cities and key
agencies (e.g. Coast Guard, Florida DEP, National parks Service, NOAA, etc.) regarding the oil spill,
followed by a press conference by the County Mayor. At this time, there are daily conference calls by
the County with the State EOC and other response agencies, and they continue assembling
information for the development of a local plan should impacts from this event be felt herein South
Florida. Further, the City receives daily situation reports detailing the scientific analysis, current
status and planning efforts relating to this incident.
CURRENT STATUS
This Deepwater Horizon explosion occurred on April 20~h and in the three weeks since had remained
primarily a northern Gulf of Mexico incident. Early this morning, NOAA observed that a light oil sheet
had reached the loop current.
The trajectory of the on-going spill is dependent on wind and currents, which to date had kept the
spill in the same general area, primarily threatening the coastline of states in the Gulf region. The
72-hour NOAA trajectory continues to show no oil landfall in Florida. In fact, and as you may know,
the tar balls that washed ashore on Key West two days ago have been definitively identified as not
coming from the Deepwater Horizon accident. The attached map shows the spill's current position
in relation to Florida's coast and loop current.
NOAA further advises that in the time it would take for oil to travel to the area of the Florida Straits, it
is likely any oil would be highly weathered, as well as impacted by the natural process of evaporation
and the application of chemical dispersants, all of which would reduce any oil volume significantly.
Additionally, NOAH explains that oil in the loop current would require persistent weather conditions
(e.g. onshore winds or an eddy on the edge of the Loop current) for it to reach a Florida shoreline.
As importantly, NOAA has also advised emergency managers that a clockwise eddy in the middle of
the gulf might impact the oil so that it may not be carried into the Florida Straits at all.
PREPARATIONS
While the County prepares for the possibility of impacts in Miami-Dade, the likelihood of oil migrating
to Miami Dade County still remains a possibility and not a certainty.
British Petroleum (BP) is assisted by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) as the lead Federal
Agency, and in Florida is assisted by the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) as the lead
State agency. The Federal response plan is the "Sector Miami Area Contingency Plan," which
details response operations for oil spill recovery, and identifies our sensitive areas (coral reefs
resources, mangroves, sea grass beds, marine wildlife preserves, marsh, swamps, etc) and other
potential areas for booming. County DERM is currently reviewing these plans to ensure they include
the latest information with regards to this, and is working with MDOEM on the development of the
County response, if needed.
Like the federal plan, the County will focus on the priorities of protecting human life and health;
minimizing ecological degradation; and minimizing economic and public impacts to Miami-Dade
County. Additionally, MDOEM deployed an Emergency Management Specialistto the State EOC to
identify the immediate challenges, needs, and impacts of the spill to the counties of Florida's Gulf
coast currently dealing with the problem.
Governor Grist has designated a State of Emergency for the Panhandle counties, and recently
extended his Executive Order to include Monroe, Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties.
The City will be attending an interagency outreach meeting hosted by the U.S. Army Corps of
Engineers (USAGE) on Storm Response Tuesday, May 25'h to receive a synopsis of the USAGE
Regulatory Program and Storm and Oil Spill Response procedures.
However, as we do in our preparedness plans for hurricanes, the City already initiated discussions
with City-approved contractors that would assist the City in the event any oil washes ashore and is in
the process of developing a specific response plan.
The most current information on the spill and response efforts can be found at:
http://www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon/default.htm and the link is available on the Miami Dade
Department of Emergency Management homepage. A link has been added to our City homepage,
as well.
Please feel free to contact me if you have further questions.
C: Eric A. Yuhr, Fire Chief
George Navarro, Emergency Manager
Offshore NOAA/NOS/OR&R
SUrfaCe Oll FOreCaSt Estimate for: 1800 CDT, Friday, 5/21/10
Date Prepared: 1900 CDT, Thursday, 5/20/10
Mississippi Canyon 252
This map shows the predicted location of oil that has potentially entered the loop current. Currents were obtained from
four models: NOAA Gulf of Mexico, West Florida SheIflUSF, NRL IASNFS and NC State SABCOM. Each include
Loop Current dynamics. Gulf wide winds were obtained from the gridded NCEP product. The model was initialized from
Thursday satellite imagery analysis (NOAA/NESDIS) and observations from a morning overflight.
90°0'0'w 89°9'0"W 88°0'9"W 87°8'0"W e6°e'8"W 85°0'0'w e4°8'0"W 83°0'0"W 82°0'0"W Ai°n'n'w
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A portion of the oil (numerous scattered light sheens with some emulsified patties and streamers) has been observed
moving to the southeast in a long tendril. Overflight observations and the latest satellite imagery indicate that most of
this oil is being entrained into a large counterclockwise rotating eddy and moving back to the north or northwest. The
northern boundary of the Loop Current (LC) is to the south of this eddy, and scattered sheens have been observed on
the boundary between the eddy and the LC. Some of the oil remaining in this region may become entrained into the
LC. Model trajectories do not indicate additional oil from the source region will move south towards the LC during
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Next Forecast:
May 22nd AM
this scale bar shows the meaning of the distribution terms at the current time