Cleanup of Bayou Chico, Santa Rosa Sound expected with new RESTORE Act funding

Eight years after oil from BP's Deepwater Horizon explosion coated portions of Pensacola and Navarre beaches, the two-county area is set to receive $25.2 million in environmental penalties paid by BP and others involved in the massive 2010 Gulf Coast spill. 

The money is part of $292 million in federal RESTORE Act funding designated for Florida and divided equally among 23 Gulf Coast counties stretching from the Florida Keys to Escambia County. 

Unlike other portions of the billions in restitution ordered to be paid by the companies, the $292 million must be used on projects to improve waterways and ecosystems.

More on the RESTORE money:Bayou Chico, Santa Rosa Sound RESTORE projects get Gulf Consortium approval

Santa Rosa County Commissioner Lane Lynchard said Tuesday that he isn't surprised it has taken so long for the two projects in Santa Rosa and Escambia counties to be approved and for the money to reach the local area. 

"This is a first-of-its-kind project with a lot of moving pieces," he said. "In many ways, I think it is a good thing that it has taken eight years because it shows what a deliberative process this has been and how much science has been brought to bear to ensure it leads to healthier waterways." 

Santa Rosa County will use its portion of the money on projects to improve the quality of water in Santa Rosa Sound by converting the Holley by the Sea and Soundside neighborhoods from septic systems to sewer systems. The county also plans to relocate discharge from the Navarre Beach Wastewater Treatment Facility away from the sound to a 200-acre site on Eglin Air Force Base. 

Comments on the plan:Gulf Consortium accepts comments on RESTORE plan to fund Bayou Chico, Santa Rosa Sound

Lynchard said the county needs another approximately $33 million to make all of the projects happen, but that the $12.6 million will allow the county to take important first steps. 

"These are not short-term projects and they are not something that will make an overnight difference in the water quality of the sound, but they should put us on a path of better water quality in the sound for decades to come," he said. 

Escambia County's money will go to a major project to remove contaminated sediment from Bayou Chico.

Christian Wagley of the Gulf Restoration Network served on Escambia County's RESTORE advisory board. Wagley said he and others on the board recommended the Bayou Chico project, which will remove more than 100 years of industrial contamination from the floor of the bayou. 

Cleaning up Bayou Chico:Escambia County scientists work to measure pollution in Bayou Chico

"Bayou Chico is the most degraded body of water in Northwest Florida and it will never be able to recover as long as there is contaminated sediment on its bottom. Removing those sediments reinforces work the county and the city have been doing for many years," he said. 

In some areas of the bayou, the sediment is more than 20 feet deep, said Brent Wipf, water quality manager for Escambia County. 

Removing the sediment will involve a complicated design and permitting process that will take years, he said. 

"I am excited to see things starting to happen for Bayou Chico. Even before the oil spill, the county had identified Bayou Chido as one of our priorities for restoration. We have been working on this for almost 20 years," he said. 

Escambia County Commissioner Grover Robinson, a candidate for Pensacola mayor, headed the 23-county consortium of Florida Gulf Coast counties created after the spill to determine how the state should spend its portion of the environmental penalties. 

Remembering the 2010 spill:On BP oil spill anniversary, Pensacola residents take stand against drilling

Robinson said Florida's process was unique. Louisiana, Alabama, Texas and Mississippi gave local leaders less of a say in how the money was spent. 

"It was a pretty amazing process to try and get 23 counties to agree," he said.

Robinson said he and other leaders from Panhandle counties were ultimately disappointed that more money did not go to areas that actually saw oil from the spill. 

"That was frustrating," said Robinson, who added that the experience shows how important it is that the region continues to ban together to fight for its share of the oil spill money that is expected to flow to the state for decades to come. 

"At the end of the day, (the consortium) was worthwhile because it brought us all together and it built trust," he said. 

Melissa Nelson Gabriel can be reached at mnelsongab@pnj.com or 850-426-1431.