Pensacola Pass is an inlet between Santa Rosa Island and Perdido Key at the western end of the Florida Panhandle.
It is protected from devastating ocean waves by the Fairpoint peninsula as well as a barrier island, Santa Rosa, from which the county gets its name.
Cabeza de Vaca reported that the Indians they encountered in the vicinity of what is now Pensacola Bay were of "large stature and well formed," and lived in permanent houses.
[3][4] Hernando de Soto sent one of his captains, Francisco Maldonando, to find a harbor on the coast west of Apalachee Province that could be used to resupply his expedition.
He named it the “Bahia Santa Maria de Filipina.” With 1400 people arriving in 11 ships from Mexico, this was the first European settlement in what is now the United States.
The local Spanish created a new city, this time on the mainland instead of the barrier island (Santa Rosa) so it could be protected from large waves and severe weather.
The Spanish holdings in America were weakened, so the United States ended up taking over the area and created a navy yard and 3 forts around Pensacola.
The site of the original Fort McRee, built in 1830 on the eastern end of Perdido Key, was in the channel in the middle of Pensacola Pass by 1979.
The dredging has interrupted the natural transport of sand across the inlet from Santa Rosa Island to Perdido Key, with the result that Pensacola Pass is a net sediment sink.
[14] BP Oil agreed to pay millions in settlements to local environmental efforts and economic development.
[16] Major protests continue for the burning of fossil fuels, such as oil, and spreading awareness of Climate Change.
Days after the oil hit shore, President Obama visited the Panama beaches and claimed that there would be “unprecedented federal response” to the historic environmental disaster.
[17] The Act states that penalty money received from the parties responsible for the oil spill will be used to protect the environment and economy of the Gulf Coast region.
Other programs not under the RESTORE Act, such as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment or the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation were still funded separately through the oil spill fines.
With pollution from industrial plants, landfills, septic tanks and more, the Pensacola area and Escambia county are in harsh conditions.
Pollution got so bad, in fact, that in 1999 there was a special grand jury assembled to assess local air and water quality.
Major corporate industries were finding loopholes in regulations or managed to convince local governments to relax them.