Montara-sized area of oil slick and sheen overlain in the northern Gulf of Mexico, showing potential impact of a comparable spill from a source located in the Destin Dome area 50 miles offshore from Pensacola. Based on analysis of August 30, 2009 NASA / MODIS satellite image of Timor Sea blowout and spill.
The onslaught of oil continues. By the time you read this, it could be already there:
An oil sheen was confirmed about nine miles off the Florida coast, and officials are saying it could hit the white sands of Pensacola Beach as soon as Wednesday.
Escambia County officials started putting out boom Tuesday and making other plans for the arrival of the oil. Crude has already been reported along barrier islands in Alabama and Mississippi, and it has impacted some 125 miles of Louisiana coastline.
Fla. officials say their request for about $150,000 from BP to buy sifting machines and a tractor to help remove oil from the beach's famous white sands has lingered unanswered for more than three weeks.
Santa Rosa Island Authority executive director W.A. "Buck" Lee says he is fed up with delays from the unified command center in Mobile, Ala.
