Local firms making oil claims

Some local business owners who have lost money because of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill already have received payment for their claims, while others are hurrying to file before a Nov. 23 deadline.

The deadline applies to emergency claims for compensation for lost earnings caused by the spill, but filing after that date will not disqualify a claim, although it may slow the payment process, according to the Gulf Coast Claims Facility (GCCF), which took over the claims process from British Petroleum in August.

The deadline to file a final claim is Aug. 23, 2013. More...

Spill may prompt local claims

HOLMES BEACH – Attorneys from three high-powered law firms came to the city to advise business owners on filing for compensation from BP for economic damages due to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Florida Restaurant and Lodging Association (FRLA) retained the firms for their members, but invited any interested businesses to attend seminars around presented by the law firms the state. More...

Oil has minimal affect on tourism

Manatee County tourism rose 1.7 percent from April to June, the first three months of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, according to a survey by the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau’s consultant.

Bolstering a widespread theory that visitors bypassed the oil-stricken Panhandle for southwest Florida, 114,200 visitors traveled to Manatee County compared to 112,300 during the same three-month period last year, according to the survey by Tampa-based Research Data Services. More...

Scientists struggle to grasp oil’s effects

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon has been burned, sunken, dissolved, weathered, skimmed, evaporated and eaten by bacteria, but no one knows just how much remains in the Gulf of Mexico, or what effects it will have, according to Mote Marine Laboratory scientists.

While the well has been closed for a month, the oil’s effects on the environment are just beginning, Mote President Kumar Mahadevan said at a forum at Mote last week, noting that it took four years for the effects from the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989 to show up in the Alaskan herring fishery. More...

Oil is over, tourism officials say

HOLMES BEACH - With the Deepwater Horizon oil well capped, it’s time to “move on with life,” a local tourism official told tourism business owners last week.

The CVB is moving away from the mantra that the beaches are clean, CVB Interim Director Elliott Falcione said, because it may plant an idea in the minds of visitors that the oil may still reach local beaches. More...

Local waters tested for oil

Local scientists are testing water, sediment and marine animals for petroleum contamination for later comparison and damage calculations in case Deepwater Horizon oil reaches area waters.

Samples of sediment have been collected from waters around Anna Maria Island and other Manatee County locations, and have been frozen for later analysis, said Rob Brown, division manager for the Manatee County Department of Natural Resources. More...

Anna Maria brothers cleaning up oil

Working 12-hour shifts seven days a week in triple-digit heat, two Anna Maria brothers are slowly making a dent in cleaning up the oil off Louisiana.

Joe Webb and his brother, Ben Webb, have been in Louisiana for 50 days, nearly half the time that oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig has been spreading throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. More...

Seafood safe despite oil spill

That grouper sandwich being offered at restaurants in Florida, including those on Anna Maria Island, is safe to eat, oil spill or not, thanks to a team effort by fishermen, processors, inspectors and regulators, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Since the Deepwater Horizon oil spill began more than three months ago, federal fisheries regulators have tracked the oil’s path, closing and reopening portions of the Gulf of Mexico to fishing depending on where currents and winds take the oil, according to NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service, which is working with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and other federal and state agencies to monitor seafood safety. More...

Manatees headed for oiled areas

Like Floridians who head to the North Carolina mountains each summer to escape the heat, up to 100 manatees make a seasonal migration too, from west central Florida to the northern Gulf coast.

That’s where oil from the Deepwater Horizon well gushed for nearly three months until it was capped last week, and it’s worrisome to manatee researchers because oil coats seagrasses that manatees eat and floats on the surface where they breathe air. More...

Locals react to oil cap

Three months after the Deepwater Horizon oil well began to gush into the Gulf of Mexico, the well is capped and the Florida Legislature is convening to discuss a constitutional amendment to ban oil drilling in state waters.

“It’s about time,” said Manatee County Commissioner John Chappie, a Bradenton Beach resident. “BP should have anticipated the worst before they drilled. It’s all about money, and we’re all going to pay.” More...

Feds: Odds favor oil missing AMI

Tourism operators have a new tool to use to answer questions about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s potential impact on Anna Maria Island.

A computer model map showing the probability of the oil’s path shows the Island has a 1-20 percent chance of being directly hit by oil or tar balls, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). More...

Tourism board to request BP funds

In an effort to boost tourism, Manatee County will request $600,000 from BP to market the area as oil-free.

“The only oil down here is suntan oil,” said Larry White, who is retiring from the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau this week.

He announced the request last week after Pinellas County requested $2 million, or 25 percent of its marketing budget, from BP. More...

County officials explain oil preparations

ANNA MARIA — Manatee County is unlikely to face disastrous impact from the Deepwater Horizon runaway oil disaster. That’s the word that county officials brought to the June 24 city commission meeting.

“We are on the phone daily with the Coast Guard, which is in charge of what happens in our county,” said Natural Resources Department Director Charlie Hunsicker. “What that means is that we’re getting control of a bad situation and not relying on BP or the federal government. More...

Florida court case favors fishermen

A new Florida Supreme Court decision may make it easier for commercial fishermen to collect damages in court from BP and other companies associated with the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The court ruled last week that commercial fishermen have a right to collect damages under both state law and common law from a phosphate company that spilled pollutants into Tampa Bay. More...

Locals hear oil discussion

ANNA MARIA – With oil from the Deepwater Horizon rig more than 350 miles from Manatee County, hundreds attended a meeting last week organized by new conservation group, Keep OFF (Oil Free Forever) Manatee, whose leader, Mike Shannon, manages the BeachHouse restaurant in Bradenton Beach.

If oil reaches Anna Maria Island, “We will have a life-changing event on our hands,” he told an audience of fishermen, artists, hoteliers, surfers, business owners, conservationists and other residents. More...

Drilling protest Saturday

Hands Across the Sand II will be held at Manatee public beach on Saturday, June 26 at noon to protest oil drilling.

Participants are asked to dress in black and join hands for 15 minutes, and should use approved beach accesses and parking, avoid bird and sea turtle nests, and be courteous and respectful to those who disagree. More...

Oil protest set for June 26

HOLMES BEACH – During the first Hands Across the Sand event on Feb. 13, about 180 protesters lined up on Manatee public beach in 47-degree temperatures and brisk 17-mile-per-hour winds to draw a line in the sand against offshore oil drilling.

Across the state, Floridians representing 90 beaches joined hands to protest efforts by the state Legislature and the U.S. Congress to lift the ban on oil drilling in Florida waters. More...

Local oil spill hotline activated

Residents and visitors anxious to help in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill disaster can be coast watchers for local emergency officials using a local hotline scheduled for activation this week.

Anyone who suspects that they see oil or tar balls in area waters or on coastlines should call 941-749-3547 to report it, Manatee County Department of Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker said. More...

Plan could drive oil slick onto beaches

If an oil slick from the Deepwater Horizon approaches Anna Maria Island, officials plan to divert it with booms away from mangroves and estuaries and onto the Gulf’s sandy beaches.

The plan is not likely to be used during the current disaster, since forecasters predict that if oil reaches the Island, it will be in the form of subsurface tar balls and patties that could not be diverted by booms floating on the surface. More...

Businesses concerned about oil spill impact

BRADENTON – As the first tar balls approached Florida last week, about a dozen Anna Maria Island business owners listened intently to local leaders discussing the Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s impact to local businesses and tourism.

People all over Europe and the U.S. are checking Mote Marine Laboratory’s Beach Conditions Report for oil updates on Florida beaches, said Dr. Barbara Kirkpatrick of Mote’s Environmental Health Program. More...

Oil’s arrival alters state tourism message

D-Day was two days early this year for Florida tourism officials, who were forced to change their message after the first oil from the Deepwater Horizon struck Florida shores on June 4.

The statewide message, “The coast is clear,” was cancelled by Visit Florida, the state’s tourism agency, which recommended that local tourism operators adopt the philosophy that “honesty is the best policy.” More...

Law firms court local fishermen

CORTEZ – Law firms from Palmetto and Miami made competing presentations last week to Cortez commercial fishermen afraid of what the Deepwater Horizon oil spill will do to their livelihoods and lives.

While no oil has hit local shores, it continues to gush into the Gulf, causing ever-widening fishing closures in federal Gulf of Mexico waters where commercial fishermen make their living. More...

Environmental, business groups to meet on oil

Two public meetings are scheduled on the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, one for businesses anticipating losses from the spill and one for environmental organizations and volunteers. More...

Fishing tourneys suspended

Sensitive estuaries rate higher on the Coast Guard's list of areas to be protected.

ANNA MARIA – Two Memorial Day weekend fishing tournaments based at Anna Maria’s Galati Yacht Sales have been indefinitely postponed due to oil from the Deepwater Horizon.

Organizers made the decision as oil, still gushing from the April 20 accident at the offshore rig, entered the Gulf of Mexico loop current, the fishing grounds for the tournaments.

NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service has closed 19 percent, 45,728 square miles, of federal Gulf waters to fishing because of spreading oil, the latest section on May 18. More...

Oil spill demonstrators: 'Plug up that hole'

HOLMES BEACH – It was a statement that many older readers have heard before.

“Our generation will have to change things,” said 14-year-old Mia Stryczny, a Manatee High School ninth-grader who was holding a sign in front of Kingfish Boat Ramp Saturday morning.

They were demonstrating to show their displeasure over the oil gushing from the bottom of the Gulf caused by an accident at a BP oil drilling platform nearly a month ago. More...

Local fishermen weigh oil litigation

CORTEZ – Commercial fishermen plan to meet with law firms this week to discuss possible litigation against BP over the oil spill resulting from the April 20 accident at the Deepwater Horizon oil rig.

They also are considering BP’s claims process as an alternative to litigation because law firms would charge one third of any recovery, according to Karen Bell, office manager at A.P. Bell Fish Co. in Cortez.

The meetings are Tuesday, May 25 at 7 p.m. and Thursday, May 27 at 7 p.m., both at the Florida Maritime Museum at Cortez, 4415 119th St. W. More...

Oil disaster still unfolding

ANNA MARIA – As engineers and tourism officials entered the second month of battle against oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig, the spill caused an occasional oily odor on Anna Maria Island beaches and the first local economic casualty of the disaster.

While oil seeped into the loop current last week, NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service closed 19 percent of federal Gulf waters to fishing, causing the postponement of two Memorial Day weekend fishing tournaments based at Anna Maria’s Galati Yacht Sales. More...

Gulf beaches not top spill prioity

Sensitive estuaries rate higher on the Coast Guard's list of areas to be protected.

Anna Maria Island’s Gulf beaches are not the highest priority areas for protection should oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon rig reach Manatee County shores.

That’s because semi-solid tar balls on sandy beaches are easier to clean than oil on mangroves and seagrass in bays and estuaries, according to Charlie Hunsicker, director of the Manatee County Department of Natural Resources. More...

Officials: Leave oil cleanup to experts

Do-it-yourselfers planning to use booms made of hair or fur to soak up oil should leave cleanup operations to the experts if oil reaches Anna Maria Island’s shores, according to local officials.

Once the booms are soaked with oil, they are considered hazardous materials and must be disposed of by BP, which is coordinating the Deepwater Horizon oil cleanup, according to Manatee County Public Safety Marine Rescue Chief Jay Moyles, adding that individuals who buy cleanup materials must coordinate with BP to be reimbursed. More...

Island watches, waits
Residents are preparing for the worst but still hoping the "Category 5 oil spill" stays far away from Anna Maria Island.

Watching the spread of the Deepwater Horizon oil slick is like a hurricane watch for Anna Maria Island residents - the waiting is the hardest part.

With no shutters to put up, no ice to stockpile and no survival kits to assemble, there is very little to do but watch, wait - and go to the beach.

Beachgoers are not taking crystal clear water and clean beaches for granted now that they’re threatened by oil. More...

Island watches, waits
Tourism officials work to get out the message that, so far, local coastlines remain unaffected by the spill.

Larry White had planned to jump out of a plane to celebrate Tourism Week, May 8-16, before the Deepwater Horizon disaster began on April 20.

But after the spill, the jump took on a new meaning: The beaches are still clean.

White, 75, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau, jumped Saturday from about 10,000 feet wearing a “Travel Means Jobs” T-shirt to land on Coquina Beach, which the CVB promotes to the world. More...

Oil spill puts other projects on hold

It’s out there and it’s getting huge and until officials know where the oil spill will go and how soon, a lot of other projects are going to have to wait. Manatee County Natural Resources Director Charlie Hunsicker said that the impending influx of oil is taking precedence over all other projects.

“Even though the oil from the spill is weeks away from us, barring any major and unforeseen change in the weather which would put the currents toward us, we still have to deal with it now,” Hunsicker said. More...

Hair donated to collect oil

HOLMES BEACH – Not so long ago, the hair from haircuts and from dog groomers was an annoyance and trash, but with hundreds of thousands of gallons of sweet crude oil drifting around the Gulf, a little known program has come to the forefront. It’s called “Matter of Trust” and it is a hair mat oil spill program.

One of the Island’s newest hair salons, called Salon Salon, is one of several hair cutting facilities that is now packaging the hair that falls from your head to the floor and sending it to a collection point, where it is stuffed into nylon tubes. The tubes are then put into water containing oil from a spill and it is successful in culling the oil from the water. More...

Oil impacting fishing industry

Local commercial and recreational fishermen are reeling from the threat of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

The National Marine Fisheries Service has progressively closed fisheries as the oil spreads through the northern Gulf of Mexico, affecting local commercial fishermen who are in that area.

As the oil drifts with the currents and winds, closures could affect more and more local fishermen, commercial and recreational alike. More...

Wildlife, plants at high risk from oil

The start of sea turtle and bird nesting season is a particularly bad time for an oil event, according to wildlife experts.

Locally, the first nesting turtle arrived on Longboat Key on May 4, and threatened shorebirds have been nesting on Anna Maria Island and Longboat Key since late April.

“At this time we are holding tight and just continuing with our daily survey walks looking for the nests left by female sea turtles on our shore,” said Suzi Fox, of Anna Maria Island Turtle Watch and Shorebird Protection in Bradenton Beach, the designated group for local sea turtle rescue efforts. More...

Stock analysis predicts oil spill worse than Valdez

An analysis of BP by Morgan Stanley predicts that the Deepwater Horizon oil spill’s costs will exceed that of the Exxon Valdez in Alaska.

Cleanup costs could be higher, about $3.5 billion compared to $2 billion for the Valdez, and fines could make the BP spill even more costly, according to the report, supplied by Holmes Beach Commissioner David Zaccagnino, a Morgan Stanley advisor. More...

Island, Florida wait as oil gushes into Gulf

Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency in Manatee and Sarasota counties on Monday, as coastal residents anxiously waited, watched and prayed that oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon is somehow stopped.

The oil creeping toward Florida from a deadly April 20 accident at the BP oil facility in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana is not the start of National Travel and Tourism Week that Anna Maria Island tourism officials had hoped for. More...