Concerns for Gulf Shores and surrounding beaches? (Orange Beach, Dauphin Island: lease, unemployment)

[Reactionary]

For those who want to volunteer (email from Mobile Baykeeper):

Dear Volunteer,

Thank you for your continued interest to volunteer in support of response activities associated with the Deepwater Horizon Oil release. Over the past three weeks, local and state partners have catalogued over 5,000 volunteers willing to give their time and resources to help protect our Gulf Coast. Your support truly makes a difference as we work together on the long road to recovery. We are working to consolidate our contact lists, so please forgive any duplications.

This email message will provide you with important information regarding volunteer training and activities that may occur in the upcoming days and weeks.

Volunteer Activities
As a volunteer, you are volunteering your time without being under any legal obligation to do so and without being paid for your services. Although volunteers will not be utilized in activities that involve contact with oil, there is still a vast need for dedicated individuals to provide critical support for this response effort.

Several different organizations have already collected contact information from thousands of volunteers like yourself who are standing by to help when needed. We are asking that volunteers provide more in-depth information as to how you can help.

Completion of the following short form will ensure that you remain on volunteer rolls for the remainder of the response effort. Please click on the link below and fill out this form if you are interested. Once completed, Volunteer Response Centers (VRCs) will match your interests and schedule availability with our current volunteer needs.

https://agencytools.uwca.org/oilvolunteers/

Opportunities to Get Involved
Partners from the US Coast Guard, BP, State of Alabama and local stakeholders are working to develop volunteer opportunities to support the response effort. One of these opportunities will involve conducting shoreline assessments as Volunteer Field Observers to get a baseline of data from our local shores so that we can understand the relative health and quality of our ecosystem pre and post impact. We will provide you with much more detailed information about how to get involved as this effort goes online.

Wildlife Training Information
Wildlife rehabilitation training opportunities are under development, and we will update you as trainings become available.

Training and Credentialing Information
Remember, all volunteers are required to go through training in order to participate in any response activities. BP’s contractor, PEC, will be providing these training sessions to volunteers and QCRs (Qualified Community Responders). Volunteers will not participate in activities that involve direct contact with oil impacted shorelines or oiled wildlife.

Volunteers will only need to attend Module 1 training.
Module 1 training is BP Health, Safety and the Environment Basic Orientation. This training will be approximately 30-45 minutes. You will be able to take this training at the Volunteer Reception Centers when/if the centers open (dependent upon oil impacting our shores).

Volunteers are being credentialed now to speed up the registration process at the Volunteer Reception Centers, should they be opened. The Alabama Department of Public Safety (DPS) wants to ensure contractors working in Alabama responding to the Deep Water Response Oil Spill have the proper credentials. DPS in conjunction with the Alabama National Guard have established credentialing centers. Below are the center locations. Volunteers will need to show one of the following forms of identification to receive their credentials: state issued driver license or I.D. card, military I.D. card, US Passport and for foreign nationals, country issued passport and I-94 showing they are authorized to be in the United States. Credentialing is only one part of the volunteer process. You will still need to report to the VRCs to register and take any needed training.

Locations for Credentialing:

Old Outcast Marina
27557 Larry C Kelly Lane
Orange Beach, Al 36561
Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday - 7:00am to 4:00pm

Mobile County
Dauphin Island Town Hall
1011 Bienville Blvd
Dauphin Island, Alabama
Hours of Operation: Monday through Sunday - 7:00am to 7:00pm

For updates on training opportunities, please visit Deepwater Horizon Response and follow the link to Alabama’s page.

Thank you for your continued interest and support with this response effort.

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by Mr crabb

Going to Gulf Shores today . Will report.

Thanx!

[holiday330]

just signing on , anyone in ft walton area-are you smelling the burning oil and is it safe for families with small children to come next week to the beach, 1 and 3 yr olds?

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by holiday330

just signing on , anyone in ft walton area-are you smelling the burning oil and is it safe for families with small children to come next week to the beach, 1 and 3 yr olds?

The owner of the condo we are renting in Perdido Key said as of right now no oil smell and all things are ago! Waiting to hear from any other locals. We have a trip planned two weeks from now.

[LionT]

We just came back from dinner at Biloxi. The smell is pretty obvious. Once we entered Biloxi, we started smelling this smell of "burnt tires". It is not unbearable, just unpleasant.

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by LionT

We just came back from dinner at Biloxi. The smell is pretty obvious. Once we entered Biloxi, we started smelling this smell of "burnt tires". It is not unbearable, just unpleasant.

Biloxi is a bit closer to the oil spill. Thank you soo very much for sharing though! I am praying no smell. We are two weeks out. Anybody been to Gulf Shores or Pensacola in the past few days?

[Mr crabb]

Biloxi is highly industrial and usually smells when the wind is favorable.

Just returned from a weekend at Orange Beach and it has never been more beautiful. Went two miles out in the gulf looking for oil and there was none, zero , no smell . The water was stunning for our area. I could barely launch the boat for all the people boating, let alone find a place to park. Restaurants were packed Saturday night. went on a seadoo near Pheonix by the bay and was suddenly surrounded by 6 Dolphins PLAYING. Turned off the seadoo , they kept playing all around us until we left the area a few minutes later. My employee spent the weekend at Dauphin Island and found the same , beautiful non-tainted conditions with plenty of people enjoying themselves. No crude here to report. No jellyfish either!! Water is nice and warm.

[Txgal33]

Originally Posted by Mr crabb

Biloxi is highly industrial and usually smells when the wind is favorable.

Just returned from a weekend at Orange Beach and it has never been more beautiful. Went two miles out in the gulf looking for oil and there was none, zero , no smell . The water was stunning for our area. I could barely launch the boat for all the people boating, let alone find a place to park. Restaurants were packed Saturday night. went on a seadoo near Pheonix by the bay and was suddenly surrounded by 6 Dolphins PLAYING. Turned off the seadoo , they kept playing all around us until we left the area a few minutes later. My employee spent the weekend at Dauphin Island and found the same , beautiful non-tainted conditions with plenty of people enjoying themselves. No crude here to report. No jellyfish either!! Water is nice and warm.

Thanx for the update Mr crabb! We are getting nervous but posts like these make us feel more at ease. We were wondering what the dolphins were up to these days as well. We like taking a dolphin cruise when we come. Thanx again! I will pass word on to my in laws!

[Txgal33]

Looks like a critical week for the Gulf Shores area. Please anybody who visits there this week post an update. Thanx!

[Yankeepotroast]

Originally Posted by nuhall

Even if they stop the oil from getting to shore who would want to be sunbathing with the smell of oil everywhere. I've heard that the Louisiana coast and Mississippi coast already smell terrible from the oil out at sea.

The smell is bad. I live here in La. and this is tragic. We are sick over what BP and our own Governments response is to this mess. I wanted to move to Gulf Shores this year and open a shop. In addition I was moving my elderly father there as well. Plans are now destroyed and we are very angry about this. Who knows how long this will kill fishing and tourism.