The Florida Keys are not likely to experience any effects from the remaining surface oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill, federal officials said Friday.

The oil continues to degrade and is hundreds of miles away from the Loop Current, according to a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysis released Friday. The analysis assumes the wellhead will remain capped, federal officials said.

"For southern Florida, the Florida Keys and the Eastern Seaboard, the coast remains clear," NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco said in a prepared statement Friday. "With the flow stopped and the Loop Current a considerable distance away, the light sheen remaining on the Gulf [of Mexico]'s surface will continue to biodegrade and disperse, but will not travel far."

This latest analysis is part of NOAA's ongoing work related to BP's response and recovery efforts, including aerial and satellite-based observations of surface oil and monitoring of the Loop Current, which carries fish and larvae from off Louisiana and the Upper Gulf past the Florida Keys and into the Gulf Stream.

Flights in the past week found only scattered patches of light oil sheens near the Mississippi Delta -- an indication that aggressive efforts to capture the oil have been effective and that the remaining oil is naturally dispersing and biodegrading, NOAA said in its press release.

A large eddy in the Loop Current, called Eddy Franklin, has been detached for months, and as of Sunday was more than 100 miles from the nearest surface oil associated with the spill, according to NOAA.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, government point man for the response, said that even with all the oil that gushed between April 20 and July 15, he did not expect significant oil remnants to reach the Keys or South Florida.

"The recent storm, Tropical Depression Bonnie, drove most of the oil to the northwest," Allen said. "This is all moving in the opposite direction where oil would need to be to enter the Loop Current."

Until the Loop Current fully reforms, there is no clear way for oil to be transported to the Keys, and it is not projected to re-form for several months. At that point, essentially all of the remaining surface oil will have dissipated, NOAA said.

"The means of conveyance has diminished in the Loop Current and the eddy has not reconnected," said Capt. Pat DeQuattro, Coast Guard commander of the Keys. "We are very pleased that cap is holding. ... We are now dealing with a finite level of pollution."

Keys and South Florida Coast Guard stations are still operating on a heightened state of alert and a multigovernment agency joint command center in Miami remains operational, DeQuattro said. The alert and command will remain in effect until the well is permanently sealed or the flow is permanently stopped, DeQuattro said.

"We will continue to revise our local contingency plans just in case," he added.

The Coast Guard and NOAA have suspended a sentry vessel program, which included three ships monitoring the waters off the Dry Tortugas. The Coast Guard is continuing to conduct flights over the Gulf to check for oil sheens, DeQuattro said.

So far, no tar balls or other sources of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill have made it to the Keys, according to NOAA and the Coast Guard.

"As we move forward in the recovery process from this disaster, it is incumbent upon BP to pay all legitimate claims for impacted Keys businesses," U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen told The Citizen Friday. "BP also needs to work with federal, state and local partners in assessing the long-term impacts of the oil and chemical dispersants on marine life, coral reefs, seagrass beds, and other fragile elements of our unique environment. BP's liability to our community does not end once the relief well is completed and operational."

tohara@keysnews.com