‘IT'S NOT OVER': As year ends, officials reflect on oil spill

On the eve of 2011, The Sun asked county leaders what lessons were learned from BP-oil-tainted memories left in the wake of one of the worst man-made environmental disasters.

For Walton County Commissioner Sara Comander, the totality of the answer is difficult to tell while “we are still trying to recover.”

“It’s not over by any stretch of the imagination,” Comander said of the recovery process. “We will hold BP's feet to the fire.”

“We are in a continued process to completely eradicate the damage caused by the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill,” Commissioner Cecilia Jones said in an e-mailed response. She went on to say, “Through this process we have gained insight to look past tourism as a sole economic engine and bring in more industries to provide revenue in conjunction with our already established tourist trade.”

Dave Rauschkolb, Hands Across the Sands organizer and a restaurateur, said he predicts that “in light of everything” the lessons will be lost on the state Legislature and that they will resume talk of allowing offshore drilling.

“They will try and push it through as an economic solution,” Rauschkolb said. But “offshore oil drilling is far too risky for the economy of the state as well as for the health of its people, seafood and environment.”

Both Jones and Comander agreed the whole incident was a surprise, but they praised county efforts to contain it.

“We didn’t have a crystal ball,” Comander said. But “all of our county entities pulled together and protected our dune lakes system, and as much as we could, our beaches.” 

Jones seconded that assessment.

"Although the oil spill was unexpected, I feel that Walton County officials responded quickly and effectively to prepare us for the worst and worked together as a team to bring restorative beauty back to our beaches,” Jones said. “We also learned that we need to work together with the federal government to make sure we have safeguards set in place to keep this from happening in the future.”

Oil worries persist months later

More than five months after a cap halted oil from gushing into the Gulf, some residents say oil is still impacting local waters.

Lisa Handley was walking her dogs near Clyde B. Wells Bridge when they came across what she calls “oil globs” in Choctawhatchee Bay. She said the substance made her dogs sick.

“They were running a little ahead and got down there before we did,” said the Santa Rosa Beach resident. “When we got there they had it on them; there were sneezing and coughing, with white foam coming out of their noses and now they have sores all over their bodies.”

She said she’s contacted emergency responders, but has received no response.

Russell Beaty, emergency manager for Walton County Sheriff’s Office, said he was not aware of any calls coming in on this and it is a “likely chance it was not oil.”

“To my knowledge nothing has come through here. What the public has been instructed to do is call the BP call center,” Beaty said. “It is probably not Deepwater Horizon oil though; we have had no oil sightings in Choctawhatchee Bay.”