FAIRHOPE, Ala. — It’s likely just a case of the calm before yet another storm, but an informal look at two Baldwin County beaches on Monday morning revealed none of the much-discussed tar balls, nor any of the reddish-brown globs of oil that have been compared to everything from a chocolate syrup and molasses mixture to the contents of a baby’s diaper.

The beaches and adjoining waters at the main Gulf Shores public beach and at Mobile Point near Fort Morgan were surprisingly pristine just two days ago. There was also no scent of oil in the air, but rather the normal aroma of the sea.

The temporary reprieve from the effects of oil flowing nearly a mile below the surface of the Gulf of Mexico can be credited in part to a meteorological roll of the dice — favorable tidal currents and winds pushing the oil farther east along the coast.

Trace amounts of oil that might have washed in the night before at Gulf Shores could have been scooped up by that city’s sifting machine, which was recently modified to remove not only cigarettes and other litter from the main beach, but also tar balls and globs of the sticky crude. BP has agreed to purchase several more of the sifters that will also be modified for use in oil removal on the Alabama coast, as well as the tractors needed to tow them.

The absence of oil at two randomly selected spots does not mean other beach communities east of Mississippi aren’t currently being impacted. Florida’s panhandle beaches remained relatively untouched by the oil until late last week while earlier, mainly coastal Alabama residents and visitors saw oil wash ashore at several locations.

Among the Baldwin County sites recently imacted is the Bon Secour National Wildlfe Refuge, where tar balls began appearing on the beaches with the high tide Friday afternoon. Cleanup crews began removing oil on the Fort Morgan Unit of the refuge that evening and additional cleanup was planned Saturday.

The weathered oil ranges in size from small patches as small as a quarter to mats of oil measuring about two feet — about the size of a garbage can lid. It has been sporadically distributed along the beaches.

Refuge beaches and trails are currently open, but the Alabama Department of Public Health issued a no-swim advisory and the Alabama Department of Conservation and Natural Resources has closed to fishing Gulf waters in Alabama and Mobile Bay, east of the ship channel to Little Point Clear.

Refuge staff continues to monitor the situation and respond to any impacts of oil to habitats or wildlife, officials there said.

They have laid more than 67,000 feet of boom to protect key bays and estuaries on the inshore waters of Mobile Bay that surround the refuge and marshes. On the Gulf side, berms have been constructed across key gulf access points on the refuge to reduce risk of oil contamination.

“We are conducting a full-court press to protect our resources here at Bon Secour National Wildlife Refuge,” said Jereme Phillips, refuge manager. ”We will continue to proactively work to protect this refuge.

“We have two loggerhead sea turtle nests and one Kemps Ridley sea turtle nest so far on the Fort Morgan peninsula. We usually get 30 to 40 nests per year. It is still early in the season.”

Many have been greatly saddened in recent weeks as turtles, marine mammals and waterfowl have been found covered in oil. That anguish is quickly turning to anger though as the incident drags on.

Surprise inspection

BP Senior Vice President Bob Fryar applauded the efforts of cleanup crews dotting Alabama’s coast during an impromptu visit Saturday to survey response and recovery operations as tar balls and goo continued to pummel portions of the state’s beaches.

Fryar, who is serving as deputy area commander, said twice the number of workers needed are being hired to comb the beaches, and the more than 200 hired Saturday morning were employed through a local unemployment office.

“They’re responding very quickly and actively,” he said.

Fryar, who surveyed operations near BP’s staging area at the mouth of Little Lagoon in Gulf Shores, said he actually vacationed for 10 consecutive summers in his youth at a house less than three miles from the site, and he understands the frustrations felt by local residents and business owners as the oil from the April 20 Deepwater Horizon rig explosion makes landfall.

Local leaders took exception, however, to Fryar’s sentiments during an Orange Beach press conference Saturday afternoon.

“I don’t think you sense our frustration. If you did you would have been here sooner,” said Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon.

Kennon said he and other area officials have been clamoring for face time with high-ranking BP officials for more than one month and only found out about the walkabout and press conference by accident.

“You show up today without so much as a phone call,” Kennon told Fryar. “We just climbed out of a hole from two hurricanes and two years of recession. This was going to be a banner year, and BP killed it.”

Bob Silva, operations manager for the staging area Fryar toured, said between 500 and 700 workers are spotting and removing oil as it arrives in patches.

“These folks are doing a nice job,” Fryar said, stopping periodically to speak with workers donning yellow shrimping boots, hats and rubber gloves.

Fryar said he was encouraged to see “hundreds of people” on the beaches at Baldwin County’s southernmost tip.

“It certainly hasn’t deterred people from coming here. I’m glad the beaches are open,” he said.

When quizzed about safety concerns surrounding the tar patties and “splats” he saw workers collecting, Fryar called them “safe to be around” and discussed the weathering process the substances endure before making landfall.

“The toxicity of this is very low,” Fryar said, urging anyone who does come into contact with the material to wash affected areas with soap and water.

Fryar also noted that tar balls are actually common occurrences along Gulf of Mexico beaches because a certain amount of oil seeps into the waters from wells. He acknowledged, however, that the volume of foreign substances arriving on Alabama beaches is “more than you normally get.”

When new contaminants are detected, Fryar said cleanup up crews are responding as quickly as within 45 minutes, but his comments drew strong criticism during the press conference where it was noted crews took two-and-a-half hours to respond to Gulf State Park Friday, four-and-a-half hours in nearby Sugar Beach and more than six hours to reach Orange Beach Saturday.

Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft asked Fryar to walk with him along the beaches and “tell me that what we see is working and efficient.”

Angry governor

Kennon and Craft were not the only elected officials losing patience with the oil giant. That’s because resources allocated originally to protect Mobile Bay and Alabama’s myriad beaches, estuaries and marshes were diverted to Louisiana despite repeated assurances from both President Barack Obama and U.S. Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen that the state would not be left completely vulnerable to arriving oil.

“Everything we thought we had an agreement on yesterday evidently can’t be completed, and it can’t be completed because there is an insufficient amount of boom in this theater,” Alabama Gov. Bob Riley told reporters late Sunday afternoon.

The boom was removed at some point and diverted to Louisiana, a state that Riley said had already deployed 200 percent of the boom outlined in its action plan with 100 percent more on standby.

“They have more boom staged than we have had allocated for Alabama,” he said.

Riley said his only recourse was to call the White House directly Monday morning and inform Obama that the resources promised during a Friday visit to the Gulf Coast would be made immediately available.

That phone conversation apparently paid off in a big way. Riley on Tuesday said there has been a significant increase in the amount of boom in Alabama — and that even more is headed to the state.

“I want to thank the president for his personal intervention with the Coast Guard,” Riley said. “Boom that was deployed here in Alabama should never have been taken from us in the first place. The Gulf states are all in this together. No one state is more important than the other. We all have precious coastlines and sensitive environmental areas that need protection. That’s the frustration I expressed to President Obama and repeatedly voiced to the Coast Guard, and I’m glad the President intervened.”

On Thursday, the day before Riley met with Obama and other governors in Louisiana, Alabama had 329,100 feet of boom deployed.  That was enough to meet only 83 percent of Alabama’s contingency plan for protecting the coast. Now, Alabama has 436,900 feet of boom deployed — enough to meet 157 percent of Alabama’s plan.

Riley said the Coast Guard has also agreed to increase the amount of boom in Alabama by an additional 235,000 feet to help build a redundant system around sensitive estuaries.

Plugging the leak

Kent Wells, senior vice president of BP Exploration, said Monday afternoon that the lower marine riser package continues to function well. But, he added, “We only define success as when we actually get the well plugged, get the oil cleaned up and return the lives of Gulf Coast residents to normal.”

Wells said 12-hour flow rate updates will now be issued. He contends this signals greater transparency on BP’s part.

“We’re trying to capture every barrel we can possibly capture. You can bet we’ll continue until we have collected every barrel,” he said. Engineers are working on several solutions, he added.”

A second type of LMRP cap should be in place later this month, according to Wells, and it will include a floating riser pipe and cap that can be quickly disconnected in the event a hurricane forces workers at the recovery site to remove all ships and equipment from the area.

President Obama reacts to slow claims process

The president met this week with members of his cabinet and other top U.S. government officials involved in the administration’s ongoing response to the BP oil spill. Obama again reiterated the federal government’s commitment to ensuring that BP fulfills every claim obligation.

“We are going to insist that money flows quickly — in a timely basis — so that you don’t have a shrimp processor or a fisherman who’s going out of business before BP finally makes up its mind as to whether or not it’s going to pay out,” he said. “That’s going to be one of our top priorities, because we know that no matter how successful we are over the next few weeks in some of the containment efforts, the damages are going to be there.”

Administration officials say the president will continue to hold the responsible parties accountable for repairing the damage, and repaying Americans who have suffered a financial loss as a result of the BP oil spill.

The oil company reports that 38,052 claims have been opened, from which more than $48.6 million have been disbursed. No claims have been denied to date.

There are 514 claims adjusters on the ground. To file a claim, visit www.bp.com/claims or call BP’s helpline at (800) 440-0858. Those who have already pursued the BP claims process and are not satisfied with BP’s resolution can call the U.S. Coast Guard at (800) 280-7118.

EPA continues environmental monitoring

The most recent numbers the Environmental Protection Agency has examined indicate that air quality levels for ozone and particulates are normal on the Gulf Coast for this time of year. Water and sediment samples along the coast did not reveal elevated levels of chemicals usually found in oil, according to EPA officials.  

EPA has observed odor-causing pollutants associated with petroleum products in the air along the coastline at low levels. Some of these chemicals possibly can cause short-lived effects like headaches, eye, nose and throat irritation, or nausea.

The EPA noted people might be able to smell some of these chemicals at levels well below those that would cause short-term health problems. Anyone experiencing those and other symptoms should call the Medical Support Line at (888) 623-0287.