BP ‘deep cleaning’ Alabama beaches — scientist says tilling will cause more sand erosion

By David Ferrara, Press-Register
Sunday, October 17, 2010, 5:31 AM As BP PLC begins an intense effort Monday to remove lingering tar balls, tar mats and oil stains from Alabama’s beaches and restore the sugar-white sand, officials in the coastal towns plan to keep a daily watch on the cleanup. Crews, back hoes and the oil company’s “Sand Shark” beach cleaners are expected to roll onto the shore at 6 a.m., starting at the Alabama-Florida border and moving westward. Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon is part of the reason BP is starting at the east side of the state. He has vowed to make sure his city’s shores are clean by the end of the year. That’s when tourists start making plans for spring break and summer, he said. “I’m going to put every amount of pressure every way I can on them to make sure they finish by Jan. 1,” Kennon said. “We’re trying to run a business down here, and you can’t run a business with bulldozers on the beach.” While BP has balked at the date, saying weather or other unexpected incidents could interrupt progress, company spokesman Ray Melick said the plan is to spend 12 hours a day — from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. — working “full bore” to the western edge of Fort Morgan. … Similar cleanup efforts are under way and will continue on Dauphin Island, Melick said. Along with the heavy tractor equipment cleaning “from the dune line to the water line,” Melick said, BP has about 400 workers in Alabama, many of whom will participate in the deep clean. Using augers to dig holes in the sand throughout the summer, BP has mapped out tar mats along the coast, where officials have said oil could be located and removed from as deep as 24 inches below the surface. … Meanwhile, marine scientist George Crozier, director of the Dauphin Island Sea Lab, said he was concerned that all the tilling and digging could harm creatures living in the sand or disrupt the structure of the beach. “If you stir it up, a little bit of water is going to go a long way to move the stuff around,” Crozier said. Because beaches naturally erode in the winter, he said, “they are liable to lose more sand as a result” of the work. “So often we’re going to mess around with the natural system when we’d be much better off to leave it alone.”

BP’s deep cleaning to start Monday; scientist wonders whether tilling could disrupt beaches