Oil Spill on Verge of Hitting Florida � Tangerine, Florida
Oil Spill on Verge of Hitting Florida � Tangerine, Florida
PENSACOLA BEACH — An otherwise sunny and gorgeous afternoon on the edge of the Gulf of Mexico turned gloomy Thursday as the nation’s worst oil spill waited only for a last push from a strong wind to spoil the sugar-sand beaches of Florida’s far-western Panhandle.
In what felt like the sobering hours before a hurricane actually makes landfall, the state’s governor, attorney general, chief financial officer and a U.S. senator dashed to the Pensacola area for briefings and inspections. Boat crews hurried to finish installing or repairing floating oil barriers. And former Orlando resident Mike Newell converted his prized deep-sea charter-fishing boat into a mud-dredging machine.
Symbolic of the region’s hammered economy, Newell has had to cancel a month’s worth of outings
