NWF to split $25.2M RESTORE funds

Two of the northwestern-most counties of Florida - Escambia and Santa Rosa - are scheduled to receive $25.2M in BP environmental-penalty funding for the 2010 Deepwater Horizon explosion and massive oil spill across the northern coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The money is part of $292M in federal RESTORE Act funding designated for Florida, and divided equally among 23 Gulf Coast counties from the Florida Keys to Escambia. Unlike other portions of the billions in restitution, the $292M has to be used on projects to improve waterways and ecosystems. Santa Rosa’s $12.6M share is to go to converting the Soundside and Holley by the Sea communities from septic systems to sewer systems, and relocating the effluent discharge from the Navarre Beach Waste Water Treatment Facility to a 200-acre site on Eglin Air Force Base property. Escambia's $12.6M is to help fund the removal of up to 20 feet-deep of polluted soil from the bottom of Bayou Chico as part of a plan to remediate the soil, which could include dredging polluted areas. (Source: Pensacola News Journal 10/03/18)