ORANGE BEACH - Moving to a new venue for the weekly Orange Beach Town Hall meeting with BP officials proved to be a good idea as literally hundreds of angry and concerned citizens filed into the gymnasium at the city’s recreation center on Wednesday.

Still, there were few answers given and no new information even as a mile-long oil slick inched its way toward the South Baldwin shoreline.

“I want to thank everyone for coming and allowing us to share the activities that we are doing, and also to be able to hear some of your concerns and hopefully be able to answer some of your questions,” said BP representative Gary Willis.

However, most of the afternoon meeting consisted of local residents and business people expressing their frustration over what appears to be a failed financial claims process.

“We are committed to continue to come back and talk with you and work with you through those issues until they are solved,” Willis continued. “These are very, very difficult times and again, I would say that we are very sorry for what is going on and for the impact it has had on your life.

According to Alabama Department of Environmental Management, the agency is working with a host of other state agencies including the Alabama Department of Public Health, Conservation and Natural Resources, Emergency Management Agency, and Homeland Security, the number one priority continues to be fighting the situation off shore.

“We are doing this through the boom strategy, the skimming efforts, and trying to minimize shoreline impact,” said Hughes.  “We did have some impact yesterday, but we do have resources to go out and address those impacts and clean those up as needed.”

Throughout the year, ADEM regularly monitors water quality and air quality across the state. Due to the oil spill, however, they have enhanced the monitoring activities.

Economic Impact

Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, however was much more interested in the economic impact of citizens and how they were not being taken care of.

“There are two aspects of this – the environmental side and the economic side. I have a feeling I know why most of you are here,” Kennon said.

When asked how many had shown up for the meeting to discuss financial concerns, the biggest majority of the crowd raised their hands.

“That’s what I thought, so we are going to direct the majority of this meeting towards the financial end,” Kennon said. “The expertise from the environmental side is probably outside the scope of our knowledge, and we’ve got to trust that someone is going to get it done. I want to know what we are going to do to survive. That is why we are here.”

Kennon then brought several local business people to the floor to discuss their difficulties filing claims for lost income.

Being “made whole”

In addition, Kennon also continued his search for answers as to what the oil industry giant meant when they referred to “making everyone whole”.

“I still don’t know for sure what that means,” said Kennon. “I am trying to get a definition. Until we know what that means, it is hard for any of us to know what we can expect.”

Kennon preached that his definition of “made whole” meant every dime that was made by local businesses last year, along with projections for the upcoming season, should be paid by BP.

According to his plan, everyone who had business licenses in 2009 would bring their tax returns to the claims office and would be paid every penny of what was made last year. Whatever was negotiated on the upside, businesses would be given a 25 percent down payment to carry them through June and July, and then a reconciliation would be done at the end of the summer based on revenues for this year.

“It doesn’t have to be rocket science,” Kennon said. “My concern is that BP is bringing an adjuster to the table and we are guilty until we prove ourselves innocent. That isn’t going to work. We didn’t contract with BP. They have an obligation to us, to make us whole.”

Also discussed at the meeting were issues regarding the vessels of opportunity program and health.

Another Town Hall meeting is scheduled for next Wednesday at noon.