Pensacola Bay

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Pensacola and Pensacola Bay, 1885 lithograph. Pensacola1885.jpg
Pensacola and Pensacola Bay, 1885 lithograph.
Pensacola Bay (map center) is southeast of Pensacola, Florida, by Escambia Bay. Florida-Pensacola-map-legend-X-6-1756-FAA.gif
Pensacola Bay (map center) is southeast of Pensacola, Florida, by Escambia Bay.
Location of Pensacola Bay (top left) in the state of Florida. FLMap-doton-Pensacola.PNG
Location of Pensacola Bay (top left) in the state of Florida.

Pensacola Bay is a bay located in the northwestern part of Florida, United States, known as the Florida Panhandle.

Contents

The bay, an inlet of the Gulf of Mexico, is located in Escambia County and Santa Rosa County, adjacent to the city of Pensacola, Florida, and is about 13 miles (21 km) long and 2.5 miles (4 km) wide. The Pensacola Bay estuarine system, including Escambia Bay, Pensacola Bay, Blackwater Bay, East Bay, and Santa Rosa Sound, and four rivers — the Escambia, Blackwater, Yellow, and East Bay rivers — is 144 square miles, and it is the fourth largest estuarine system in Florida. [1]

Pensacola Bay is formed and protected by Fairpoint Peninsula and the barrier island of Santa Rosa. The Pensacola Bay Bridge crosses the bay, connecting Pensacola to Gulf Breeze on the western end of the peninsula. The Gulf Islands National Seashore includes Santa Rosa Island, and encloses part of the bay. The Gulf Intracoastal Waterway runs through a section of the bay. Pensacola Bay leads into Escambia Bay to the north, and to the East Bay. Pensacola Pass connects the Bay to the Gulf of Mexico.

History

After the War of 1812, the federal government decided to fortify Pensacola and Pensacola Bay. It built the Navy Yard west of the city in Warrington, starting in 1828 (this was redeveloped in the 20th century as Naval Air Station Pensacola). It completed construction of Fort Pickens in 1834 at the western end of Santa Rosa Island; completed Fort McRee in 1839, and completed redesign and expansion of Fort Barrancas in 1844, to add to defenses.

2010 Gulf oil spill

Following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (called the "Gulf oil spill"), the government and BP planned to close the entrance to Pensacola Pass with a floating barrier system in June 2010, to control tidal flow of oil entering from the Gulf of Mexico. [2] The daily high tide was causing oil-contaminated water to enter Pensacola Bay. Such a barrier system is designed to allow boats to travel through Pensacola Pass during the outflowing tide, but to close during the rising tide.

The booming plan was never carried out. The Pass was only boomed for a day due to strong currents which broke the boom. No other plan was in place in areas of less current nor was there a plan to trap incoming oil. Oil product entered the pass. [3]

See also

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Perdido Pass</span>

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<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> explosion 2010 oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico

The Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion was an April 20, 2010 explosion and subsequent fire on the Deepwater Horizon semi-submersible mobile offshore drilling unit, which was owned and operated by Transocean and drilling for BP in the Macondo Prospect oil field about 40 miles (64 km) southeast off the Louisiana coast. The explosion and subsequent fire resulted in the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon and the deaths of 11 workers; 17 others were injured. The same blowout that caused the explosion also caused an oil well fire and a massive offshore oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world, and the largest environmental disaster in United States history.

The following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. It was a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, the largest offshore spill in U.S. history. It was a result of the well blowout that began with the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig explosion on April 20, 2010.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pensacola Pass</span>

Pensacola Pass, separating mainland Florida from Santa Rosa Island, is the mouth of Pensacola Bay. Pensacola Pass forms a water passage that connects Pensacola Bay with the Gulf of Mexico to the south, in the U.S. state of Florida, east of the Alabama/Florida state line. The surrounding area is heavily developed, with high-rise condominiums. However, there are nearby beach-front parks, with Fort Pickens on the eastern side of Pensacola Pass.

This article covers the effect of the Deepwater Horizon disaster and the resulting oil spill on global and national economies and the energy industry.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for June 2010.

Following is a timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for July 2010.

Following is a Timeline of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill for May 2010.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill was discovered on the afternoon of 22 April 2010 when a large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site. According to the Flow Rate Technical Group, the leak amounted to about 4.9 million barrels of oil, exceeding the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill as the largest ever to originate in U.S.-controlled waters and the 1979 Ixtoc I oil spill as the largest spill in the Gulf of Mexico. BP has challenged this calculation saying that it is overestimated as it includes over 810,000 barrels of oil which was collected before it could enter the Gulf waters.

<i>Deepwater Horizon</i> oil spill response Containment and cleanup efforts

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References

Coordinates: 30°22′06″N87°12′03″W / 30.36833°N 87.20083°W / 30.36833; -87.20083