Apalachicola Riverkeeper

Deepwater Horizon Spill Response

The Apalachicola Riverkeeper is coordinating the non-governmental response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill impact for Franklin County Florida. Please go check out the Franklin County oil spill preparation, response, and recovery website: http://oilspillrecovery.org There are web forms for volunteers to sign up, organizations to request resources, and a donation form for people wishing to provide financial assistance.

If you would like to be notified of official recovery plans, please connect with us through the following methods:

The Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s email newsletter is one of our members’ benefits. Members can access the newsletter via the subscription button on the left sidebar of this page. We will also send it to members for whom we have email addresses.

If you would like to contact us with specific questions or comments, feel free to use the website contact form.

Tell your congressman not to subsidize development in hazard-prone, ecologically-sensitive coastal areas and floodplains!

Read More!

Thank you to everyone who helped make our “Sweeter Side” event a success! We raised over $3500 in donations! Check out this video from the Onyx Group to learn more about the “Sweeter Side” event.



The Cycle of Insanity: The Real Story of Water from Surfrider Foundation on Vimeo.


SouthWings Seeks Volunteer Pilots in Gulf Region

Are You A Pilot? You can go flying and work to protect the environment at the same time. SouthWings, a non-profit organization based in North Carolina, is looking for a few good pilots to help with recovery efforts in the Gulf. We are receiving a high volume of flight requests related to the Gulf oil spill disaster, and we need additional pilots to help conduct these missions.

The requirements of a SouthWings pilot are:

  • Love of flying and interest in conservation
  • Minimum 750 hours of Pilot In Command time
  • Own or have access to an aircraft
  • Completion of a Volunteer Pilot Application and Volunteer Pilot Agreement
  • Addition of SouthWings as additional insured on aircraft policy

If interested, please call us toll free at 800.640.1131, or become a member of the SouthWings website (http://www.southwings.org) and indicate that you are a pilot in the membership questionnaire. You then will be able to access the online Volunteer Pilot Application and Volunteer Pilot Agreement. Thank you for considering the valuable work SouthWings does to protect the environment.


Gulf Oil Spill: Scientists Discover Massive New Sea Oil Plume

NEW ORLEANS — Marine scientists have discovered a massive new plume of what they believe to be oil deep beneath the Gulf of Mexico, stretching 22 miles (35 kilometers) from the leaking wellhead northeast toward Mobile Bay, Alabama. Read More


Support No Drilling With New T-Shirts

Homestead T-Shirts is selling a new shirt you can wear to show your support for no offshore drilling and are donating $1.00 per shirt sold to help with the clean-up effort of the current disaster. Read More


First Signs Of Thick Oil Along Mississippi River

After weeks of estimates, countless models and hundreds of boat excursions seeking hints of oil in Louisiana's marshes, a bleak picture began to emerge this week as the first signs of thick, dark oil from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill could be seen blanketing a patch of marsh grass near the mouth of the Mississippi River. Read More


Aerial Views Of Oil Burn

Check out some aerial views of a burn at sea over the source of the BP Slick. SouthWings pilot Tom Hutchings and his daughter Brinkley accompany Hurricane Creekkeeper to the source.


Oil Spill Trajectories
Please visit the NOAA: National Ocean Service, emergency response page for more information about the oil spill and the national level recovery effort.

Deepwater Horizon - 5/15/2010


Oil Spill Comparisons

Chart comparing projected Deepwater Horizon spill rate with other previous oil spill disasters: Google Spreadsheet: Worst oil Spills


Oil Spill Articles and Books

We have organized an extensive bibliographical list of articles and books on the topic of oil spill disasters. Please make use of this resource! Oil Spill Bibliography


Fisheries Closures
Fishery bulletins and maps reflecting changes to the fishing closure area in conjunction with the oil spills movement.

Save Our Gulf

Please support the efforts of all the Gulf Coast Waterkeepers to prepare for and prevent the impacts of the BP Oil Disaster. http://saveourgulf.org


Avoid Harming Nesting Shorebirds

It is shorebird/seabird nesting season, and there is great potential for extensive negative impact on nesting birds if extreme caution is not taken. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has developed a set of shorebird/seabird best management practices. If you know of groups planning these type of clean-up events, please share with them these practices, which can be found on their website: Best Management Practices in Shorebird Nesting Areas

Chemicals Meant To Break Up BP Oil Spill Present New Environmental Concerns

"On Thursday BP began using the chemical compounds to dissolve the crude oil, both on the surface and deep below, deploying an estimated 100,000 gallons. Dispersing the oil is considered one of the best ways to protect birds and keep the slick from making landfall. But the dispersants contain harmful toxins of their own and can concentrate leftover oil toxins in the water, where they can kill fish and migrate great distances."

Read More

The BP liaison in Franklin County, Florida provided these Material Safety Data Sheets for the dispersants they are using at the Deepwater Horizon site.

FUTURE OF APALACHICOLA BAY HANGS ON WATER BATTLE
By Margie Menzel. Originally aired on August 25, 2009 : 88.9 WFSU-FM & 89.1 WFSW-FM
JUDGE'S RULING BOOSTS FLORIDA IN WATER WARS
By Margie Menzel. Originally aired on July 20, 2009 : 88.9 WFSU-FM & 89.1 WFSW-FM
SPECIAL SERIES: APALACHICOLA WATER WARS
By Margie Menzel. Originally aired on: 88.9 WFSU-FM & 89.1 WFSW-FM
PERSPECTIVES: APALACHICOLA WATER WARS UPDATE
Originally aired on June 12, 2008: 88.9 WFSU-FM

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Come Paddle With The Apalachicola Riverkeeper

Come join us the 4th Saturday of every month for a paddling trip in the Apalachicola watershed. The trips are free to members and $30 for non-members. Members can come go on as many trips as they like. Your guides will be Riverkeeper Dan Tonsmeire, Executive Director Andy Smith, or one of our great volunteer guides, Tom Herzog or David Morse.

We are convinced that to better protect the Apalachicola ecosystem we must increase the number of folks who get on the River, its floodplain, creeks, sloughs, and tributaries. It’s an amazing place with much to offer (view the "Paddling the Apalachicola" movie to see for yourself). The more folks that understand and appreciate it the more folks there’ll be who’ll support its protection.

Spaces on the Apalachicola Riverkeeper’s 4th Saturday paddle trips can be reserved by calling us at 850-653-8936 or emailing riverkeeper@apalachicolariverkeeper.org.


Click here to view. 		Florida may as well be known as the Paddling State. As you will see in this movie, the Apalachicola River and its system of tributaries and creeks makes the area a paddlers’ paradise and offers paddling options for everyone. "Paddling the Apalachicola River" was produced by the Apalachicola Riverkeeper. This project received financial assistance from VISIT FLORIDA®.


www.VisitFlorida.com

Click here to access Apalachicola River depth data gathered from a gauge at Blountstown, Florida. Click here for more data gathered at the Blountstown gauge.