A GRIM ‘REALITY CHECK': Oil sheen about a half a mile south of Hurlburt as crews reset East Pass boom (UPDATE with PHOTOS and VIDEO)

Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani said the Coast Guard is resetting booms in Destin's East Pass after one of its boats ran over the boom on Saturday. There was no immediate indication that the boom had been damaged.

Florida Deepwater Horizon Response is reporting that tar balls and "tar patties" have been reported in "widely scattered areas" stretching from Pensacola to Grayton Beach, and that cleanup teams are onsite.

To see the latest spill photos from the Associated Press, click here.

To see the Billy Bowlegs invasion in FWB and the party on the water, click here.

To learn more about the situation in Walton County, click here.

It also says reconaissance teams are reporting oil sheen just more than half a mile south of Hurlburt Field. According to NOAA projections, additional impacts are expected throughout northwest Florida within the next 72 hours due to moderate/strong southwesterly winds.

Also, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is reporting that fisheries are now closed in federal waters as far as Destin. The first few miles off the shore are considered state waters, which remain open to recreational fishing.

Contractors in Destin began laying booms in East Pass Friday morning as tar balls washed ashore on Navarre Beach and large tar mats were spotted offshore.

Santa Rosa County reported scattered tar balls on a western stretch of Navarre Beach. Coin-sized pieces of weathered, dark brown tar were mixed in with June grass that had washed up along the beach.

Cleanup crews contracting with BP PLC arrived at the beach at 8:50 a.m., according to a news release from Santa Rosa County. Seven teams were involved as tar balls washed up through the afternoon. The county will verify when affected stretches of beach have been adequately cleaned.

The beach will remain open. The new Navarre pier will open today as previously scheduled.

Florida air reconnaissance teams reported 12 large, taffy-like tar mats floating 6 miles south and 1 mile east of the Navarre pier on Friday, said Lauren McKeague, a spokeswoman for the Unified Command.

Each tar mat was about 30 feet by 15 feet. The tar mats were trailed by oil sheen.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration oil trajectory maps show oil off Florida floating east through Sunday.

While no confirmed oil hit Okaloosa shores, officials were expecting a possible impact this weekend, which would most likely come as tar balls or light sheen, according to a news release from the county. Contractors placed a staggered set of booms to protect the East Pass, which will stay open.

“Things are going as planned,” said Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani. “We’re still trying to get people to stay out of the pass area.”

Booms also are in the water at Joe’s Bayou and Indian Bayou, according to the release. More booms are staged at back-bay bayous, but the county is holding off placing them in the water, allowing more boat traffic for the Billy Bowlegs festival, which will run as scheduled.

Crews should finish placing booms by the end of the weekend, Villani said.

Today 25 staffers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission and Florida Department of Environmental Protection will rove area beaches by all-terrain vehicle, looking for oil, according to the Santa Rosa news release. When oil is reported, emergency workers will verify the report and send in BP cleanup crews.

Oil creeping toward local shores is more weathered than oil near the site of the gusher and isn’t expected to give off a strong odor. BP is attempting to eliminate sheen by burning it or skimming it up. Officials are not planning to use dispersant chemicals in Florida waters.

While Santa Rosa has had no reports of tar mats hitting the beach, a small tar mat of undetermined size was reported by the state to Escambia County officials, said county spokeswoman Sonya Daniel. Oil washing up on Pensacola Beach ranged from dime- to Frisbee-sized.

More than 300 people working with cleanup crews scoured the roughly 24 miles of Pensacola Beach Friday.

Walton County received approval to begin its coastal dune lake protection plan, according to a Sheriff’s Office news release. Contractors began stockpiling sand near the entrances to dune lakes. Sand could be moved to close off the lakes, and then removed to prevent lake flooding.

The story continues with this report from The Log's Matt Algarin.

As government estimates say anywhere between 21 and 46 million gallons of oil have spewed into the Gulf, Destin deployed boom into East Pass Friday in hopes to protect our inland waterways and beaches from disaster.

“I think the mood in Destin is very somber,” City Manager Greg Kisela said Friday morning. “Everybody was anticipating having a really good season, and the uncertainty with the oil has been a reality check.”

To watch a video of boom being strung in the water, click here.

To see photos of crews stringing boom Friday in East Pass, click here.

To see photos of crews deploying boom on Norriego Point Thursday, click here.

To watch a video of the boom being placed on Norriego Point, click here.

To see photos of a fleet of dump trucks carrying sand in South Walton, click here.

H2O Environmental, which was on Norriego Point Thursday, was in charge of booming East Pass and acted as the first line of defense. The boom will ultimately be set up in a chevron pattern, which would redirect oil to waiting skimmer boats to collect it. To see the full booming plan see thedestinlog.com

Carl Oskins, president of H2O, told the Log Thursday that his crew of nine guys were in the process of staging 11,000-feet of boom.

“The plan was to get it all staged today,” he said while taking a break. “Depending on the powers that be, we will be putting the rest of it out when necessary.”

As of Friday, Kisela said that in the next 72 hours “there was the potential to see oil sheen in Destin.” He said he wasn’t sure how much, or how heavy it would be though.

The capping of the well by BP has yet to be determined a success or a failure as of right now, but even if the cap does work, it is only a “temporary and partial fix” according to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the government's point man for the disaster.

As the boom was deployed Friday in the pass, Kisela said it was his recommendation that the county waits until Sunday, after Billy Bowlegs, to put out the secondary boom, which he said is “not as critical as the boom in the pass.”

“We can clean up the oil off the beaches if we need to,” he said.

Moving forward, Kisela told the Log that he is confident that Destin will be able to recover from this impact.

 “These are Destinites we are talking about, they will bounce back,” he said. “We always do.”

Pat and Jim Helgeson are two of those Destinites. The couple, along with some visiting family, were enjoying the beach Thursday as crews were placing boom around them.

When asked if the booming bothered them, or if the whole situation was strange, the couple replied, “no.”

“We have dealt with hurricanes in the past, and it’s just a fact of life,” Pat said. “I mean we hate it, but what can you do. Its out of our control — it won’t stay here forever, eventually they will get it cleaned up.”

THE LATEST FROM THE LOG

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REAL DEAL’? Destin expecting oil sheen in 72 hours

To see the latest photos from ground zero, click here.

Dolphins ‘escort’ twelve area pastors as they pray for the 'wind and waves to shift'

U.S. Commerce Secretary declares a fisheries failure in Florida. 

TO SEE NOAA'S LATEST TRAJECTORY MAP, CLICK HERE.

County debunks reports on tar balls in Destin

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Booms will remain in the East Pass for at least 30 days, and probably the duration of the oil spill response, said Okaloosa County Public Safety Director Dino Villani.

“This is something that’s just gonna become a way of life here for a while until things get under control at the well site,” he said.

Sheen, a reflective, rainbow-colored film of oil, floated closer to local shores in scattered patches. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission sighted sheen 6 miles off the new Navarre pier Thursday morning.

The primary plume of oil was 30 miles off Pensacola Thursday, five miles closer than Wednesday. According to a National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration oil trajectory map, potential beached oil was forecast for Navarre Beach on Saturday.

Efforts to skim the thin layer of oil from the water were ineffective because the sheen was so light, according to a news release from Santa Rosa County. But sheen is expected to evaporate before it hits the shore; any oiled sand would be swept up.

Okaloosa County Emergency Management Chief Randy McDaniel said the sheen would affect scattered sections of the beach. Affected areas would be cordoned off and cleaned by emergency crews.

“We’re hoping if we do get any impacts, they’ll be small, they’ll be sporadic,” Villani said.

Officials consider the East Pass — the gateway to Choctawhatchee Bay’s bayous and rich wildlife — the most important point to protect. While the waterway will remain open, Villani urges recreational boaters to stay out. He expects mostly commercial fishermen in the pass.

McDaniel said the county will hold off closing bayous during this weekend’s Billy Bowlegs festival but may close them Sunday depending on the threat of oil.

Along the beaches of South Walton, officials are preparing to close off entrances to coastal dune lakes with sand, according to a news release from the Walton County Sheriff’s Office. The plan involves moving sand around to protect the lakes, possibly closing off lake inlets. The county is awaiting the state Department of Environmental Protection’s approval.

Here is the latest oil update from the city of Destin.

Destin's beaches are NOT closed.  It is actually a very beautiful day today.  It is our understanding that IF beaches are closed the decision to close them will be made by the county, with input from the health dept.  It could be that all beaches may be closed at one time, but is more likely that sections of beaches, where oil has washed ashore, will be closed, cleaned and reopened, as soon as possible.  It really all depends upon what kind of oil product washese ashore and how much of it there is.  Obviously, we won’t know that answer until it comes. 

CLARIFICATION:
The Destin Oil Spill Information Center is a local office the City has set up to help CITY RESIDENTS in this time of need.

VISITORS INFORMATION:
If you are a tourist/visitor here's some numbers you can use to get updated information about your stay:

(1) First, we recommend that you contact your hotel/resort/rental company, as many of them have relaxed their policies to better meet your travel needs during this time.

(2) Destin City Hall - 850-837-4242    www.cityofdestin.com

(3) The Destin Area Chamber of Commerce - 850-837-6241  www.destinchamber.com  

(4) The Walton Area Chamber of Commerce - 850-267-0683     
www.waltoncountychamber.com

(5) Emerald Coast Visitors Bureau -  1-800-322-3319    www.destin-fwb.com

(6)  Walton County Visitors Bureau - 1- 800-822-6877   www.beachesofsouthwalton.com

(7) The Better Business Bureau - Pensacola - 850-429-0002   www.nfl.bbb.org 

(8) The Florida State Attorney Fraud hotline - Tallahassee - 850-966-7226  

FISHING INFORMATION:
US Commerce Secretary Declares "Fishery Failure" in Florida.  http://www.thedestinlog.com/news/secretary-14028-commerce-washington.html

VOLUNTEER INQUIRIES:
There are several ways to volunteer. 

(1) The State is encouraging residents and visitors to become a Coast Watch Volunteer. Sign up at www.volunteerfloridadisaster.org. 
(2) If you live in Destin, you can send an e-mail with your name, phone number and e-mail to: yearle@horizonsfwb.com  and you will be placed on a local list.
(3) And BP, of course, has established a volunteer program and set up a toll-free number for you to register at 1-866-448-5816.

(From Okaloosa County & State Emergency Management Officials)

Oil sheen is now reported to be off of the Florida coast; however, no tar balls have been found on Okaloosa beaches to this point. Okaloosa contractors continue to deploy boom in preparation for arrival, in hopes oil can be captured and properly disposed.  Boom has been placed in the East Pass, at Joe’s Bayou, and at Indian Bayou and will be extended into place if and when oil reaches our coast in Okaloosa County.  Waterways are not expected to close; however, boaters are asked to use extreme caution
when navigating around boom with minimal or no wake in order to protect the boom and our waterways.

We expect a possible impact from the spill sometime this weekend; however, the impact is not expected to be as bad as where the oil leak occurred, and will likely be in the form of tar balls and or sheen which is a thin, light coating of oil on the surface of the water. Okaloosa County Action Plan boom has started to arrive in the County. 11,000 feet arrived last night and another 25,000 feet is scheduled to arrive today (Friday).

In Louisiana, a cap has been placed over the remaining pipe to capture the oil. There is now concern that the eddy which separated from the loop current will rejoin the current and transport oil around the tip of
Florida and up the east coast.

Okaloosa Island beaches will continue to be checked by Jackson Guard and Okaloosa Beach Safety daily; however, to report an oil sighting, please dial 311, and select 0 so information can be verified and reported to BP.

  Click to view latest trajectory maps.