Deepwater Horizon Funding Includes Millions For Escambia County

December 8, 2013

Florida is in line for $88 million in restoration projects along the state’s oil spill-affected Gulf Coast. The money was the latest proposed by the trustees for the Deepwater Horizon Natural Resource Damage Assessment as part of a $627 million draft plan announced Friday for the Gulf Coast states.

Five Escambia County specific projects and four regional projects impacting the county are on the list, totaling a potential $45 million investment.

Escambia County specific projects include:

  • Big Lagoon State Park Boat Ramp Improvement Project – $1,483,990
  • Bob Sikes Pier, Parking and Trail Restoration Project – $1,023,990
  • Florida Gulf Coast Marine Fisheries Hatchery/Enhancement Center Project – $18,793,500
  • Perdido Key Dune Restoration Project – $611,234
  • Perdido Key State Park Beach Boardwalk Improvement Project – $588,500

Regional projects impacting Escambia County include:

  • Florida Artificial Reef Creation and Restoration Project – $11,463,587
  • Florida Oyster Cultch Placement Project – $5,370,596
  • Florida Seagrass Recovery Project – $2,691,867
  • Scallop Enhancement for Increased Recreational Fishing Opportunity in the Florida Panhandle Project – $2,890,250

Before any of the proposed projects are finalized the projects will go through a 60-day public comment period that runs through February 4.  Included in the comment period are two public meetings in Florida; one in Pensacola on Tuesday, January 28, and Wednesday, January 29, in Panama City.

“The Deepwater Horizon spill was a defining moment for Escambia County and we are still working to restore our critical ecosystems,” said Grover C. Robinson, IV, District 4 Commissioner and Gulf Coast Consortium Chairman. “We could not have done this without the joint efforts of the federal government, Florida Department of Environmental Protection and Governor Rick Scott.”

Comments

One Response to “Deepwater Horizon Funding Includes Millions For Escambia County”

  1. capt on December 8th, 2013 4:26 pm

    So how is this helping local businesses and a lot of the homeless people , this has beena scam from the get go , if u drive a car use electricity and have anykind of plastic in or home kinda become part of the problem not the solution, sorry where do u think all this come from?oh thats right where every thing else does China lol , fossil fuels r not going away any time soon sorry, and no I didn’t take any money and yes I work in La….we haven’t gotten ride of big government or murders or rapist or drugs , i think they do more damage,,,and we won’t get of the oil companies, agree or not thats the way it is , yallhave a nice day and try to keep warm

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News