Florida emergency response officials on Monday said they need more resources to battle a plume that sits ominously off shore and could hit some of the state’s most popular coastal tourist spots by the end of the week.
And Gov. Charlie Crist reiterated that he’s all for local governments taking matters in to their own hands as frustration mounts over a lack of unity in the Unified Command that is supposed to be managing spill response.
Asked how he feels about coastal counties going outside the chain of command to coordinate their own response – as at least one county has said it will do – Crist was succinct.
“Go for it,” he said.
Speaking to reporters at the state’s emergency operations center in Tallahassee, Crist directed Florida Department of Environmental Protection Secretary Michael Sole to seek 80 additional oil skimming vessels to keep the main body of oil off its revenue-generating shores.
As heavier concentrations of oil drift toward the coast, the availability of skimming vessels is taking center stage.
“Candidly, I think 100 skimmers are what we need to have in Florida to keep this offshore,” Sole told reporters. “As of right now, we have only 20 in the near shore battle. More skimmers, clearly, could be used to keep this off Florida’s coast.”
Hoping to improve communication with federal responders, Crist announced the arrival of Coast Guard commander Joe Boudrow, who will work in Tallahassee as a liaison between state emergency response officials and the federal incident command in Mobile. Boudrow’s arrival comes as emergency responders try to calm critics who say oversight is lacking in the response.
Local officials in Okaloosa County, for example, voted to begin their own clean-up efforts without going through unified command officials headquartered in Mobile, Ala., saying they couldn’t wait for federal responders to protect their shores. Crist said he supports such environmental vigilantism as a means to keep the state’s beaches open.
“Floridians want to do everything they can to protect Florida,” Crist continued. “I encourage everyone to lean forward.”
He also said he’ll come down hard on any state officials who thwart efforts by locals to take care of their own backyard.
“I talked to a dentist over the weekend who said, ‘We don’t want the government against us.'” Crist said. “Well, neither do I and if find out anyone in (state) government is against us, I’ll replace who that is.”
Crist also defended the state’s continued advertising campaign. Asked if the state is acting appropriately by continuing to spend advertising dollars to lure tourists to the state, Crist said he’s confident state marketing officials are walking the fine line between providing accurate information on beach closures without shooting themselves in the foot.
“You’ve got to be truthful, you’ve got to be honest and you’ve got to be straightforward,” Crist said. “We can’t mislead people. But it’s not misleading to say to any potential tourist that our beaches, the vast majority of our beaches, are beautiful, the water is clean and fish are biting.”
By Michael Peltier
The News Service of Florida
