BP Oil No Threat to South Florida: Experts
Projections say South Florida is now in the clear of oil
NBCMiami.com
A surfer catches some waves on Haulover Beach as Tropical Storm Bonnie nears South Florida.
Finally, we have a reason to praise a tropical weather system during hurricane season.
It's because of Tropical Storm Bonnie that the experts believe that the BP Gulf oil spill won't threaten South Florida or the Keys, a new analysis by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration concluded.
The news comes just in time for President Barack Obama's trip to South Beach next month. Maybe we can entice him to take a dip.
There had been fears that the massive spill could reach South Florida and the East Coast through a powerful loop current, but
federal officials said Friday that earlier reports that some oil had reached the current were wrong.
Most of the surface oil in the Gulf had degraded to a thin sheen. What remained on the surface and below was hundreds of miles from the loop current. The threat will officially be zero once the Deepwater Horizon well is killed.
NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said a strong eddy is preventing oil from reaching the current.
"So there's no mechanism for oil to get from where it is now at the surface to the Keys, Miami-Dade, to any place along the East Coast," Lubchenco said.
So now it's officially safe to go into the water on South Beach and you won't have to worry about anymore creepy visits from Gov. Charlie Crist.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC 6 Miami
