An oil slick located off the coast of Louisiana creeps closer to shore as seen in this natural-color image taken April 29 with the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite.
Gov. Charlie Crist declared a state of emergency on April 30 for the counties of Escambia, Santa Rosa, Okaloosa, Walton, Bay and Gulf.
In his executive order, Crist cited the threat from oil leaking from the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform and well, and the need to prepare to protect natural resources, beaches and other coastal ecosystems.
Latest reports say the oil slick in the Gulf of Mexico encompasses at least 600 square miles and is expanding. The slick is moving in a northerly direction, and officials are gearing up for potential impacts all along the Gulf coast from Louisiana to Florida.
The "incident" as it is commonly referred to by officials began April 20 with an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon Rig located off the coast of Louisiana. The damaged rig sank into the sea on April 22. Officials said the rig contained 700,000 gallons of petroleum products.
In the emergency declaration, state officials said that efforts to contain the leak, which is located 5,000 feet below the sea, have not been successful.
Latest estimates from the U.S. Coast Guard said the well is releasing about 200,000 gallons of crude oil per day.
"Oil continues to spill from the well as all efforts to stop the discharge have failed and may not succeed for an extended period of time," the governor's emergency order states.
The disaster declaration states that the Director of the Division of Emergency Management is the coordinating officer for the duration of the emergency.
Crist appointed David Halstead to the position of director on April 30. He has been serving as interim director since January.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) has sent personnel to Pensacola and Mobile, Ala., to assist with spill tracking, according a press release.
"The slick is growing, and its movements depend on the currents and the winds," Gil McRae, director of the FWC's Fish and Wildlife Research Institute, said. "We're preparing for the worst and hoping it won't get to that point."
McRae indicated that no reports of ill effects on wildlife have been substantiated by the FWC, but based on current reports on the size of the spill, this could be a "prolonged event," McRae said.
The FWC is working with NOAA and the Coast Guard and taking direction in Florida from the lead agency, the Department of Environmental Protection.
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