GULF SHORES, Ala. — Tension continues to mount all along the Gulf Coast as a large mass of oil threatens to change life as we know it, possibly for years to come.

As a result of the April 20 explosion of Transocean’s Deepwater Horizon floating rig, a 10-day ban on fishing in federal waters between the mouth of the Mississippi River to Florida’s Pensacola Bay has been put in place by the Feds and fishermen, and boat captains and local businesses are scrambling to find a solution. The rig was located 130 miles southeast of New Orleans and was owned by Transocean Ltd., but was under contract with BP, and the explosion claimed the lives of 11 workers.

On Saturday, the Gulf Shores City Council met to extend emergency powers to Mayor Robert Craft to deal with the oil slick. The law allows certain procedures regarding public notice and other municipal procedures to be circumvented in the event of threats to the public health and property once these powers have been conferred.

The meeting occurred following a conference call with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley. Riley and various area city mayors discussed immediate processes to be put in place to protect estuaries and sensitive wetlands as well as Gulf beaches from incoming oil slicks. The mayor and city council, in cooperation with the governor and the Unified Command of federal and state resources, are sparing no resources in protecting the area’s environment and businesses from any damage from the oil slicks.

On Monday morning, hundreds of local boat captains piled into Geno’s Fresh Catch Grill at Zeke’s Landing in Orange Beach and met with representatives from the United States Coast Guard, BP, and other agencies involved in the effort.

Questions regarding financial issues and the status of stopping the oil leak were discussed, but officials had no immediate answers. Boat captains, however, were being asked to sign up to use their vessels in the cleanup efforts.

U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on Sunday said it could be as long as 90 days before a relief well could be completed.

Some estimates say that the well is releasing anywhere from 5,000 to 210,000 gallons of oil into the Gulf on a daily basis.

Ironically, BP was one of three finalists for a federal award honoring offshore oil companies for outstanding safety and pollution prevention.

The winner of that award was to be announced on Monday at a luncheon in Houston, but the ceremony has been postponed.

A “pre-event” cleanup was held on Monday from noon until 6 p.m., and authorities have asked those interested in helping to clean up not to self-deploy, but to contact voluntter banks by dialing 2-1-1 or 888-421-1266.