Florida Keys Oil Spill Response - Reef Relief
Keys Community Responds to Oil Spill Threat

Posted Tuesday, May 4, 2010

 
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TOMORROW
May 5th (Wed) - Florida Keys Community College Oil Spill Forum, 5:30 pm, Library. Speakers panel and Q Also to be broadcast on 104.1 FM, US1 Radio

NEXT WEEK
May 11th (Tues) - Special Workshop on Oil Spill (Open to the public), Monroe County Nelson Govt Center Bldg, Key Largo, 1 pm

Reef Relief urges you to sign your company or organization on to our letter requesting that President Obama reconsider any future leasing and drilling for oil and gas off the Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until the cause and effects of this ongoing oil spill known and resolved.

DRAFT

President Barack Obama
May 7, 2010

White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington, D C 20500

Dear President Obama:

We, the undersigned governments, organizations, and businesses of the Florida Keys respectively request that you publically reconsider any plans for future leasing and drilling for oil and gas off Florida in the Gulf of Mexico and South Atlantic until the cause and effects of this ongoing oil spill tragedy in the north central Gulf are known and resolved.

The recent Transocean drilling incident aboard the Deepwater Horizon off Louisiana, and resultant 200,000 to nearly one million gallons per day oil spill that is now threatening sensitive shorelines and coastal economies along the entire northern Gulf region, including the Florida Keys, is cause for such action. All spills in the Gulf of Mexico must exit through the Straits of Florida and our Florida Keys.

Completed in 2001, the Deepwater Horizon rig operated by BP Oil represented the cutting edge of drilling technology that is currently touted as "safe and reliable" for expanding offshore drilling in the deep waters of the Gulf and South Atlantic.

This spill clearly demonstrates that these technical "safe guards" are not reliable nor safe enough to protect our sensitive marine and coastal resources and the many jobs and economies they support.

Although you have indicated your willingness to halt drilling, it does not make sense to allow further leasing in these areas to proceed.

Please show the people of Florida, the Gulf coast and the entire United States that you do care and that some areas of our country are just too environmentally sensitive and the economic consequences just too great for these extremely dangerous and risky activities to be seriously considered.

Thank you

Sincerely,

YOUR ORGANIZATION HERE (Please Email your organizations name, your name and title to reefrelief@gmail.com (mailto:reefrelief@gmail.com) or ahiggins@TNC.ORG (mailto:ahiggins@TNC.ORG) by May 15th and we will include you in our letter.

ALSO, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO WIDELY DISTRIBUTE THIS SIGN-ON LETTER TO YOUR BUSINESS FRIENDS AND NEIGHBORS

Oil Spill Updates and Information

http://www.deepwaterhorizonresponse.com/go/site/2931/
http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/ (http://e2ma.net/go/6667794019/208186329/212527404/32432/goto:http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/)
http://www.keysnet.com/2010/05/01/215195/keys-have-all-eyes-on-spreading.html

FLORIDA EMERGENCY INFORMATION LINE ACTIVATED IN RESPONSE TO DEEPWATER HORIZON INCIDENT

~Hotline provides Floridians information regarding the Deepwater Horizon Response~

TALLAHASSEE- -

The Florida Emergency Information Line (FEIL) will operate from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. until further notice. The number for residents to call is: 1-800-342-3557

The Florida State Emergency Information Line activated at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time on Monday, May 3 to provide Floridians a link to informational resources regarding the Deepwater Horizon response.

The State Emergency Operations Center in Tallahassee remains activated to a Level 2, or Partial activation, and emergency management officials are continuing to coordinate with local, state and federal partners to ensure Floridas coastline is protected.

For the most up-to-date information on Floridas Deepwater Horizon response, as well as health and safety tips, visit www.dep.state.fl.us/deepwaterhorizon.