It will probably be a disappointment but I hate it when someone says never mind. 😁

The gist of the post was that there has been much emotional suffering by many of the locals.

The leak has been stopped now and it is all about aftermath from here on. Early fears that the leak might not be stopped was probably due to BP's early on concerns with pressure readings that might have indicated some ongoing leakage.

BP has done a horrible PR job. They seem to think that they can do or say anything as long as they promise to throw unlimited money at the problem. They may already regret some of this and they have been somewhat reticent to release large portions of the promised relief.

My wife and daughters are spending this week at Dauphin Island on the Gulf. They report that the beaches and water are clean and there is no petroleum smell in the air.

Oil had come ashore on Dauphin Island and a big cleanup effort was ongoing for several weeks. They have now laid off the cleaners so they must think the danger is over. I guess we will see.

Over recent weeks BP has been paying out large sums to locals and non-local opportunists (carpetbaggers) for beach cleanup, water patrol and boom work.

I have a friend with a small Air boat, who was never called up but was offered over $2000 a day to patrol the Mobile Bay delta for oil pollution.

The smell of money has been in the air around here and many are trying to get a taste. This is never pretty but is understandable, I guess.

The local tourist and entertainment industry has definitely suffered and legitimately needs help. Beach occupancy has been down nearly 90% and seafood restaurants are getting killed.

At this point it appears that it was not as bad as feared. This could change if the concerns about dispersal chemicals and deep water oil pollution turn out to be valid.

One thing I am betting on for the future is how long it will be before the first case of Gulf Oil Syndrome shows up 😆

I think this just about covers what was in the original post