After spill, local officials question safety of oil drilling // VIDEO, PHOTOS

PANAMA CITY — An oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico moving toward Louisiana’s shore is drawing attention to what local officials fear would happen in Northwest Florida if oil drilling were allowed off Florida’s shore.

“With the accident that has happened off the Louisiana coast, it makes us pause and really look at the issues surrounding near-shore oil drilling,” Bay County Tourist Development Council Executive Director Dan Rowe said.

Following an explosion Tuesday night, the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig burned before sinking into the Gulf Coast on Thursday. Although the investigation is ongoing, officials suspect the rig had a blowout, a problem that occurs when too much pressure builds up as a rig is extracting oil.

The rig and the well were not leaking as of late Friday, but the U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring both. The Coast Guard has cleaned up about 181 barrels of oil, but about 200 barrels remain on the surface, U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer Ashley Butler said. About six oil skimmers were out Friday containing and eliminating the oil that has spread more than 10 miles wide.

Watch video of news coverage following the explosion >>

The oil slick is about 150 miles southwest of Pensacola, but favorable weather conditions are so far keeping the oil away from Northwest Florida. The slick is predicted to hit parts of Louisiana and Mississippi and not Northwest Florida, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Core Lt. Commander Nickie Lambert said. That prediction is based on weather forecasting and could change, she said.

Northwest Florida got lucky, Environment Florida advocate Adam Rivera said.

“Blowouts are more common than we like to think,” Rivera said. “It can happen no matter how safe the equipment.”

The Transocean Ltd. rig won a safety award last year. Had the same blowout happened on a rig off the coast of Alabama, Rivera said, Northwest Florida would be bracing for oil on its white beaches.

“Oil drilling is a dangerous business,” Rivera said. “Sadly, this is putting a spotlight on the safety of oil drilling.”

The oil slick comes at a time when President Barack Obama is calling to expand offshore oil and gas drilling as close as 125 miles off Florida’s coast. State lawmakers were considering allowing drilling as close as 3 miles from Northwest Florida shores, but the legislation is dead for this session. That idea is opposed by local chambers of commerce, including the Bay County Chamber of Commerce, Panama City Beach Chamber of Commerce and the Walton Area Chamber of Commerce — all of which have approved resolutions against drilling. The Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce plans to take a stance on the issue in the next two weeks.

“With the accident that’s happened off the Louisiana coast, I think it confirmed our point” to oppose drilling, Walton Area Chamber of Commerce Valencia Williamson said.

The oil rig fire and spill spurred Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., to ask the Department of Interior to look into the explosion and investigate worker safety, inspections, technology and industry practices used in offshore drilling and gas production during the last 10 years. In his letter, dated Thursday, Nelson wrote that the incident “raises concerns about the most recent claims of the industry that advances in technology have made drilling safe not only for workers but also for the environment.”

Should oil drilling begin in Florida waters, the beach might see spills; that could put Bay County’s $1 billion tourism industry at risk, Rowe said. Oltman said it also would impact the environment and the community’s way of life. The work isn’t safe, either. Since 2006, about 509 fires have burned on rigs in the Gulf Coast and about 35 workers have lost lives, Rivera said.

“This still happens enough to give anyone pause,” Rivera said. “The more you expand drilling, the greater the risks become.”

About 5.65 million metric tons of oil went into the sea because of tanker accidents from 1970 to 2009, according to the International Tanker Owners Pollution Federation Limited, which collects statistics. In fact, Rivera pointed out the last spill happened two weeks ago when a pipeline burst, spilling 18,000 gallons of crude oil that covered about 20 percent of the Delta National Wildlife Refuge in Louisiana. Despite significant gains in technological in the last 10 years that has reduced the number of spills, accidents still happen, Rivera said.

Rivera expects legislators and residents will start asking a lot more questions about the safety of drilling because of the downed rig.

“If there is any silver lining to a tragedy like this, it’s that folks will start looking at the dark side of drilling,” Rivera said. “It will bring out into the sunshine what the dangers of drilling actually, really are.”

The Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents American’s oil and gas producers, did not return a phone call Friday.