Marina Dock Age

Ever since the April 20 oil rig explosion in the Gulf of Mexico, British Petroleum (BP) has been working to contain the leaking oil that’s flowing out of the sea floor.

Coast Guard and other agencies are also trying to clean up the spilled oil and keep it from coming ashore in Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida using booms, chemical dispersants, and burning methods.

Panama City Marina, a 240-slip municipal facility with 300 feet of side-tie dockage has been affected by these cleanup efforts.

On May 4, the Bay County Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Coast Guard began using Panama City Marina as a staging area for the oil cleanup.

“They tried to use the Port of Panama City first for the cleanup, but due to homeland security issues, they couldn’t use the port,” said Bill Lloyd, marina director for the city. That’s when EOC and Coast Guard decided to make Panama City Marina into a cleanup staging area.

Impact on the marina

In order to use Panama City Marina as a cleanup staging area the Coast Guard brought lots of equipment with them. “They are loading booming materials onto their offshore crew boats from our marina,” said Lloyd.

As a result, EOC and Coast Guard have taken over the marina’s parking lot for Pier 8 and have shutdown its double-wide boat ramp. However, Panama City Marina remains open for business.

“We understand that something had to be done to clean up this mess and protect the shorelines, and we are happy to help,” said Lloyd. “The only problems I have are that boaters can’t drive to Pier 8 or use our boat ramp.”

Coast Guard and EOC closed down the marina’s double-wide boat ramp, which Lloyd said is the busiest in the county and a major source of revenue for the marina.

Lloyd estimates that his boat ramp brings in 75 to 100 boats per day to his marina, which means bait, tackle, refreshments, snacks, and fuel sales will be affected by the ramp closure.

However, the marina is fueling these cleanup vessels, which may offset some of the lost revenue.

“We are negotiating with EOC and Coast Guard to get our ramp back open by Memorial Day and for them to allow our boaters to park in the Pier 8 parking lot,” said Lloyd. Meanwhile, cleanup crews could be at the marina for at least another 90 days.

“Some of our customers are complaining about the inconvenience, but many of them also realize that it is more important to keep oil out of the marina and away from the shoreline,” said Lloyd. So far Panama City Marina has not had any oil near the marina.

Getting reimbursed

Lloyd is keeping track of what this cleanup effort is costing the marina with the hope of getting reimbursed from either the federal government or from BP once this environmental disaster is over.

Right now he knows that the leak has to be sealed first in order for things to return to normal at Panama City Marina as soon as possible. “I hope they get that leak taken care of,” Lloyd said.   

Rob Preston is managing editor of Marina Dock Age magazine. He can be reached by phone at 847/647-2900 Ext. 1311 or via e-mail at rpreston@prestonpub.com.