Tests show toxic crude at popular Escambia boating area

BP has confirmed well-preserved deposits of crude from the BP oil spill are under the sand in about 3 feet to 5 feet of water in a cove at Fort McRee, one of the area's most popular recreational boating areas.

Lab results from a marine biologist working for Gulf Breeze reveals the oil is as toxic as the fresh oil that washed up on Pensacola Beach in June, even though the Florida Department of Environmental Protection disputes its toxicity.

BP is conducting its own test — not for toxicity, but to measure how much oil is submerged at Fort McRee and how to clean it up, said Ray Melick, a BP spokesman in Mobile.

"They are working up the best plan," Melick said of officials at the Florida Branch of BP's Gulf Coast Restoration at Bayou Chico. "How much (oil) there is will determine how big the response will be."

Cleanup methods are being tested in the water off Barrancas Beach, where, since August, cleanup crews have been removing large deposits of oil siphoned in from the Gulf of Mexico on strong currents and submerged in the sand in Pensacola Bay most likely in June and July.

About 17,000 pounds a month continue to be removed from the Barrancas area, said Sandy Jennings, Escambia County community and environment bureau chief.

Once those crews — which include scuba divers — complete cleanup at Barrancas Beach, the plan is to bring the same team to Fort Pickens and Fort McRee, said Terry Morris, oil spill spokesman for Gulf Islands National Seashore. Both sites are part of the seashore.

Morris was told during a briefing at the Florida Branch that cleanup could begin in about 60 days, although BP did not confirm a timeline.

Meanwhile, Morris urges the public to use caution in the area.

"We have the same oil impact notice that's still in effect in parts of Escambia County," he said. "It states that people should avoid contact with oil. We never wanted to close the beach, but the public needs to be aware and take precautions."

Angler Mark Fuqua was shocked to find out on Tuesday that there still was that much oil out in the bay, especially near one of his favorite fishing holes.

"Oh, no. I'm cleaning flounders right now that I just caught within eyesight of there," said Fuqua, who in August reported finding oil on his anchor near Palafox Pier.

He was under the assumption all the oil had been found and was being cleaned up.

"That really bothers me. (BP) knows about it and hasn't done anything about it yet," he said.

Fuqua goes to great lengths to protect himself and his family from pollutants, including installing a high-power water filter in his house, and believes BP should be posting stern warnings about the oil.

"That oil at Fort McRee is like having a chemical dump site and not telling anyone, and letting everyone play and fish there," he said.

BP and the Department of Environmental Pollution said they learned about the oil at Fort McRee about four weeks ago, after Heather Reed, marine biologist and oil spill environmental consultant for Gulf Breeze, Shane Carmichael, the Gulf Breeze community service director and other scientists reported finding "an abundance" of oil during a search.

"I had gotten a call from a lady who was relaxing at Fort McRee in the water," Reed said. "Her hands burrowed down in the sand, and when she brought it up, it had oil on it. She said it was real sticky."

The consistency of the oil alarmed Reed, because most of the BP oil being discovered buried in sand is weathered to a harder consistency.

The scientists who found the deposits sent samples to several labs to be tested.

"It was off the chart," Reed said. "It had to be diluted 20 times to get a reading. The crude has very high danger levels of petroleum organics and is not safe for the public to be exposed to. I would be concerned for boaters, swimmers and fishermen who come in contact with it."

When she smelled it, Reed said she immediately got a headache, the same reaction many people experienced when the air was filled with the "burnt tar" smell when oil began washing up in June.

Gulf Breeze also collected samples to compare to any future oil that may wash up on its shores, Carmichael said. "We had heard a lot of rumors there was oil out there and people who said it was not," Carmichael said. "We wanted to go out and make sure it was there so we can be on guard to watch for potential impact on the city."

Florida DEP officials dispute the claim that the oil is toxic.

In an e-mail, Amy Graham, Florida DEP interim press secretary, said when the agency was notified of the oil four weeks ago, scientists assessed the site and sent samples to the DEP Central Laboratory in Tallahassee for analysis.

"The sampling results indicated that the oil had been weathered and contained no volatile organic compounds," Graham stated. "According to the sampling results, unless coming into contact with the oil itself, there is a minimal human health risk."

But Graham went on to say that swimmers who come into contact with the oil mats "should immediately wash off the oil and avoid recreating in the area where they came into contact with the oil."

Reed said she is not surprised that DEP's findings differed from hers.

"I suspected this would happen," she said. "The Fort McRee oil found was collected according to the same protocol, split and sent to different labs and agencies, and each agency's lab came up with different results. This is because, what I believe, there is no standardization in testing methods and ranges due to the criteria each agency requires. Agencies and researchers need to be on the same wavelength in the initial testing, otherwise most results are useless when determining the effects of oil on certain cases."

Reed mentioned the testing disparity and other concerns to the Gulf Coast Ecosystem Restoration Task Force set up by President Barack Obama. The task force met in Pensacola on Tuesday. Reed was optimistic about the meeting and the panel's potential ability to restore the Gulf.

Dick Snyder, director of the University of West Florida Center for Environmental Diagnostics and Bioremediation, which has grants to study the effects of the oil spill on the ecosystem and marine life, has not tested the oil at Fort McRee.

"What Heather has found in the inlet is a huge find," he said. "Anytime you let people know where there's oil located, that's a good thing, so people can clean it up and remove as much as possible, and the people who go out and recreate there can know it's there."

Snyder does not believe the oil at Fort McRee poses a public health risk, although he said people should use common sense and avoid it.

"If you find oil or a tar ball and analyze it, you're going to get high numbers," he said. "But that's not going to show you exposure (risks)."

Snyder's scientists have been focusing their studies on the search for dissolved oil — microscopic concentrations that the public could be exposed to even if they can't see it.

"We've not seen any significant concentration of oil dissolved in the water since late June or early July," Snyder said about tests in the surf off Pensacola Beach. "And we know there's oil out there (under the sand) in mats and tar balls."

Snyder said it all boils down to what level of toxic exposure individuals are willing to accept. Educating the public about the risk is important, which makes Reed's find valuable, he said.

Snyder said several groups are sampling the water: the DEP, the Environmental Protection Agency, universities and health departments.

"(The oil spill) is such a big mess," he said. "The more people we have looking, the better."