May 10, 2010

Beachlovers, business owners fear oil spill’s effectsBy Sebastian KitchenMontgomeryAdvertiser.com

Along the Gulf Coast — Teresa Waller walked the beach of Gulf Shores thinking about memories of family trips there as a child. She drove the 30 minutes from her home in Robertsdale for another walk Wednesday, wanting to remember the sandy white beaches before oil washed up on the Alabama Gulf Coast.

Waller walked the beach on a beautiful evening as the sun dropped below the line of condos on the coast.

“We may lose our beach,” she said. “I am taking a look just in case. If it’s all ruined, I want to have this in my head.”

Waller is one of thousands who live on or near the Alabama coast who are concerned about the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico — about the potentially devastating effect on tourism if oil washes up on the beaches, the fishing industry being virtually shut down, and the potential damage to the environment, which is how many of those Alabamians earn a living.

And even though only a half dozen blobs of what might have been oil have washed up on the Alabama coast, some businesses and workers are already feeling the pain.

Just as the summer tourism season is about to ramp up, people are canceling reservations or have stopped making them. Without the tourists, the charter boats for fishing are docked, business slows for the souvenir shops and restaurants, and many of the condos and rental homes are empty.

And without those major economic engines, many people do not know how they will pay their bills and provide for their families.

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