DEP IN DESTIN: Henderson Beach becomes command center for state response (PHOTOS and VIDEO)

If you were unaware of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and happened to have visited Henderson Beach State Park in the last few days, you might have thought the aliens had landed.

Monday afternoon, government vehicles and people in uniform shuffled around the eastern portion of the park's parking lot, which has been blocked off by cones. A news van sat on the edge of the perimeter, representing Channel 13 News in Orlando and Bay News 9 in Tampa, with cameras pointed at the area, hoping to catch any commotion that may happen.

This area has been chosen as the Florida Department of Environmental Protection's (DEP) “Incident Command Center” for oil recovery on Northwest Florida's beaches. Complete with a “Mobile Command Unit,” DEP representatives are searching the beaches, quickly and properly collecting tar balls that come ashore.

To find out what's happening in Walton County, click here.

Lieutenant Leamon Keen, a DEP Park Police officer who is currently stationed at Incident Command, described the tar balls that have been found so far as “small and sporadic.”
In an interview with The Log, Keen described the DEP's process of tar ball recovery.

It starts with a team of 25 officers who are each responsible for five miles of beach. The area that this team is responsible for stretches from the state line in Perdido Key to Gulf County by Port St. Joe.

“From sunup to sundown,” with the aide of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC), officers look for evidence of the spill on Northwest Florida's beach. When something is found, that officer reports to incident command, which informs “BP subcontractors,” who physically collect the material.

The substance is then sent to Florida's State Emergency Operations Center (SEOC) in Tallahassee.

One of the coin-sized tar balls that has been discovered was steps away from Incident Command, down the boardwalk at Henderson Beach.

BP's contracted workers arrived, collected the material and moved on to the next site.

Destinites may see this team, or a similar party, moving through Destin in a charter bus.

But many beachgoers didn't even notice the workers, who have been careful not to disturb tourists.

“We've been out here all day and there's no tar balls,” said Tom Turnbow, of Shreveport, La.

Turnbow is visiting the Destin area with other family members from Louisiana and Arkansas, as they have for the last 21 years. The only “concession” this extended family made was moving their reservations from the usually beachside condo, to a rented house.

“We want to let people know that it's alright,” said Karen Hofford, of Petit Jean Mountain, Ark., who joined Turnbow and the rest of their family on Henderson Beach on Monday afternoon.

A COLLECTION OF COVERAGE

Fla. may post 1st signs warning swimmers about oil

Local BP gas stations: ‘Please, don't boycott us'

'THE NATURE OF THE BEAST': After low impact weekend, city ponders uncertain future (PHOTOS, CNN VIDEO and TRAJECTORY FORECAST)

CNN ON LOCATION IN DESTIN: City manager to appear on Anderson Cooper 360 (PHOTOS)

'THIS WILL BE CONTAINED': Cap collecting more oil as slick extends reach (PHOTOS and LIVE FEED)

BOOMDOGGLE? Coast Guard says East Pass boom requires a redo (PHOTOS)

SNAPPER MATH: One plus one equals one as fish keep coming in (CATCH-OF-THE-DAY PHOTOS)

OIL SPILL FORECAST: Winds of fortune may soon favor area

To see Tuesday's photos from ground zero, click here.

See AP photos of Monday's oil spill coverage. »

To see photos of Monday's cleanup on Navarre Beach, click here.

'VERY MINOR': Beaches from Okaloosa Island to Walton County see finger-nail sized impact from oil (WEEKEND UPDATE with PHOTOS)

To see what other media have been saying about Destin, click here.