Governor discusses oil spill

May 12, 2010 1 min read

To the editor:

Last week I worked with our state and federal partners to be as prepared as possible for the effects of the Deep Water Horizon oil spill.

While there is no imminent threat of landfall of oil on Florida beaches, we remain focused on preparing for that possibility. We have an all-hands-on-deck approach to dealing with the potential consequences of this incident

The United States Coast Guard has established an incident command in St. Petersburg, and we are currently using the $25-million block grant from BP (British Petroleum) for initial state and local preparation. Members of our State Emergency Response Team are also deployed throughout the impact region.

Last Monday, I signed an Executive Order expanding the state of emergency from six coastal counties to 19 counties. This will allow resources to be more quickly allocated to help businesses and fellow Floridians in those areas.

We will continue to assess the situation to ensure Florida is ready.

Thank you and God bless.

Charlie Crist

Florida Governor

Tallahassee