Eden HOA President Lead Concerned Disclosures
The area behind Eden Condominiums has been of concern for months now in an area of submerged tar mats off shore. Here are some excerpts from the Pensacola News Journal with the details. (see full article here) The good news is that we got the county folks to step up and raise cain with BP and to get a private contractor out there to get it addressed. Good works by many behind the scenes folks just doing their civic duty for our precious Perdido Key area. 
Patrick Schibline is excited to see the cleanup operation, which includes 20 workers and six pieces of large equipment stretching across 400 feet of beach."I've been trying to get them to clean up the beach for the last two months — since the tar mat was discovered in December," said Schibline, 61, Eden's homeowners association president.
Escambia County officials say the operation is woefully inadequate, given BP's anemic reaction to at least nine other tar mats pinpointed near Perdido Key. Four tar mats lie between Fort Pickens and Navarre Beach, and many others are suspected to extend 100 miles out, county officials said.
Tired of waiting for BP to address the issue, County Administrator Charles Oliver fired off a letter to BP's incident commander in New Orleans on Friday requesting that the oil giant address the tar mats. While the county waits on a response from BP, it is following the lead of Orange Beach, Ala., and seeking a proposal from a private company to search for and clean up tar mats found from the shoreline to depths of 30 feet in the Gulf."We want to see productivity from BP, or we will move ahead and we'll send BP the bill," said Keith Wilkins, the county's environmental point official, speaking on behalf of Oliver.
County Commissioner Gene Valentino has received kudos for his focus on the BP disater since last May. He has seen the tar mats himself during scuba diving trips to inspect the Gulf floor. He said BP responded to the Eden tar mat only because of the "overwhelming volley of complaints" from Eden residents, vacationers, county officials and politicians.
It is encoraging to see that the leaders and concerned citizenry did not stick their collective heads in the sand (pun very much intended) and ignore the problem in hopes it would just go away as BP had apparently thougtht it would.
This is another example of the paradigm shift that is centered on the resurgence of the Perdido Area/West Pensacola. People are engaged, there is a unity of purpose, a recognition by a wider range of city and county leaders, a spring in the proverbial step of our neighbors, and an atmosphere of optimism no matter the issues or the odds.
Spring break is on the way with very strong indications with rental numbers up and real estate sales booming. We cannot afford to ignore anything that may jeopardize our economic recovery so I salute all those who jumped into the fray. Thanks from all of our Perdido Key Area citizens.
