Florida updates oil spill chain of command with new appointment

Yesterday, Admiral Thad Allen, National Incident Commander and head of the Deepwater Horizon clean up effort appointed Commander Joe Boudrow as Florida’s Deputy Incident Commander of the Deepwater Horizon response. Commander Boudrow comes to Florida from his position as Commander at the U.S. Coast Guard First District in Boston. Boudrow will be tasked with working with an updated local chain of command to coordinate the response effort.

Commander Boudrow will also be assisted by an Incident Management Team (IMT), which will comprise of a set of individuals directed by the Coast Guard and Florida. Commander Boudrow’s team will report to Captain Steve Poulin based in Alabama.

The Commander’s first task will be bringing more skimmers into Florida, Governor Charlie Crist is requesting an additional 80 skimmers to help mitigate the damage to Florida’s coastline. The state currently has 20 skimmers but reports indicate that may not be enough to keep up with the current flow. Secretary Mike Sole’s Department of Environmental Protection is the lead state agency for spill response and will work with Boudrow’s team on response tasks. The state is hoping that by updating the command structure the acquisition will move more swiftly and that local officials will have more control in order to respond more efficiently.

“I am pleased that we will now have greater operational control over the Unified Command assets deployed in Florida,” said Governor Crist. “I look forward to enhanced coordination between Unified Command, the state and local partners now that Florida is receiving impacts from this incident.”

People can also monitor Florida’s response efforts through the state’s environmental protection agency website and dedicated twitter feed. Those interested in contributing to the clean up can also visit the state’s recovery jobs website.  An oil spill information line in also place at 888-337-3569.

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