FAIRHOPE, Ala. — Crude oil from the Deepwater Horizon has reached the Alabama coast. Gooey, weathered oil made landfall along Dauphin Island on Tuesday, and the Fort Morgan peninsula and perhaps even Gulf Shores were expected to receive weathered oil after press time on Wednesday or possibly today.

Moderate south to southwest winds this week are moving the oil closer toward the Alabama and Mississippi coasts. The forecast by NOAA officials was the first suggesting landfall was imminent, and on its current track the oil could also threaten Mobile Bay.

NOAA modeling, however, suggests that the sheen approaching the bay might be prevented from entering at present because of a strong 6-7 knot tidal movement, combined with heavy outflow from upstate rivers fed by recent heavy rains.

Because of the latest oil trajectory predictions, the Unified Incident Command has aggressively increased surveillance by air and sea, according to officials in Mobile. Spill monitoring has increased through the use of vessels of opportunity, other vessels have been deployed to verify aerial observations, and skimming vessels are responding to confirmed reports of oil.

Beach support teams have been mobilized onshore to respond as well. 

“We are working around the clock to keep the oil off the shoreline, and have had the gift of time to plan for its arrival,” said Capt. Steven Poulin, incident commander for the Coast Guard. “The projections are of concern. This is a dynamic situation influenced by a wide variety of environmental factors.”

UIC reports that more than 6,000 people are now participating in the response effort, both in open water and on the shorelines of Alabama, Mississippi and Florida.    

Using expected currents and winds, along with data gathered through such means as satellite photography and overflights, NOAA also extended farther east areas in the Gulf of Mexico closed to fishing, including federal waters off Orange Beach. All commercial and recreational fishing including catch and release is prohibited in the closed area. Transit through the area is allowed, however.

The latest closure measures 75,920 square miles, which is slightly more than 31 percent of the Gulf of Mexico exclusive economic zone. The majority of federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico remain open to commercial and recreational fishing.

The Alabama Department of Public Health (ALDPH) took it a step further Tuesday afternoon and closed some state waters, including Pelican Bay, west of longitude 88 degrees 4.5 minutes to all commercial and recreational anglers. This marks the closure of all state Gulf waters to fishing from the east end of Dauphin Island to the Mississippi state line.

Modeling and mapping the actual and projected spill area is not an exact science, according to officials. NOAA Fisheries Service strongly advises fishermen not to fish in areas where oil or oil sheens (very thin layers of floating oil) are present, even if those areas are not currently closed to fishing.

Permit holders are reminded to maintain their federal vessel permits by submitting timely reporting requirements and renewal applications, even if the vessel is not currently engaged in fishing activities.

Details can be found at http://sero.nmfs.noaa.gov/.

The last closed area modification was made Monday. This latest extension coincided with Tuesday’s opening of the Gulf of Mexico recreational red snapper season, and will affect some areas normally targeted by charter boat captains and private anglers.

NOAA’s Fisheries Service is increasing the level of data collection to more closely monitor the effects of the oil spill on Gulf recreational fishing. This should enable the agency to adjust the closure date for recreational fishing seasons as appropriate, including the red snapper season which is scheduled to close at 12:01 a.m. July 24.

“We are communicating regularly with Gulf fishermen about real-time oil spill observations and projections, as well as collecting feedback on what they see while out fishing," state Roy Crabtree, NOAA’s Fisheries Service southeast regional administrator. “We will continue to monitor the situation closely, and we are prepared to extend fishing seasons if we see catches are down, and seafood is safe.”

According to NOAA, there are around 5.7 million recreational fishermen in the Gulf of Mexico region who took 25 million fishing trips in 2008. Commercial fishermen in the Gulf harvested more than one billion pounds of fish and shellfish in 2008.

Fishermen who wish to contact BP about a claim should call (800) 440-0858.

Alabama oyster reefs are the latest casualty related to the oil spill. ALDPH also closed all state oyster beds as a precaution. Health officials also are warning swimmers not to enter the waters off Dauphin Island.

Dr. Donald Williamson, state health officer, said, “These are precautionary measures to protect the public health. We will continue to monitor the situation and reassess the need for further advisories if the situation changes.”

The situation in the Gulf is likely to get worse over the short term, officials say, because BP’s “top kill” and “junk shot” methods of shutting down the flow of oil were classified as failures over the weekend.

BP is now using a procedure that involved cutting off the riser pipe atop the well’s malfunctioning blowout preventer (BOP) and then installing a lower marine riser pipe (LMRP) that possibly could siphon most of the oil and send it to the surface where it could be placed in tanker ships and sent to refineries.

Carol Browner, assistant to the president for energy and climate change policy provided an estimate calculated by government scientists that BP’s LMRP tactic could result in a temporary 20 percent increase in oil flow that would continue until the containment device is securely fastened to the BOP.

The Flow Rate Task Force will continue to evaluate the process, and will provide any additional assessments as they become available.

Meanwhile, progress is reported in the drilling of relief wells expected to enable BP to permanently seal the well. The Development Driller III and Development Driller II continue to drill the first relief well to a depth of 12,000 feet, and second relief well to a depth of 8,500 feet.

President Barack Obama continues to be proactive in responding to the oil spill. The president is sending Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson and NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco to the Gulf region this week.

Their actions will be coordinated by National Incident Commander Admiral Thad Allen, who is directing all interagency activities. This will be Jackson’s fourth stop on the Gulf Coast since the crisis began, Salazar’s eighth trip and Lubchenco’s third visit.

Obama visited the affected area for the second time Friday, and met in Grand Isle, La. with Alabama Gov. Bob Riley and others as he addressed the frustration felt by those who felt a solution would not soon be found.

Scammers

On Monday, BP officials warned that scam artists are posing as employees of the oil giant, and offering applicants training and promising job placement for a fee.

“It is important that the public be aware that this is a scam,” said Neil Chapman, a BP spokesperson. “BP does not charge to train and hire applicants.”

The company is working closely with local authorities to prosecute those responsible for the scam. If you or someone you know has been charged fees for training, contact law enforcement.

“BP is committed to protecting the wildlife, marshlands, and residents,” Chapman said. “We will continue to engage the community in the Gulf region and provide services to ensure that no one, especially those affected by the Deepwater Horizon incident, are taken advantage of.”

Search for debris

Investigators are asking the community to be on the lookout for debris from the Deepwater Horizon rig that might be floating in the Gulf or washing up on shore. Debris from the rig is vital to the investigation concerning the cause of the incident.

Investigators ask anyone who finds debris to leave it in place, get a good position for the debris and then call Lt. Cmdr. Jeff Bray or the Transocean contact center, at (800) 598-3195 or visit http://www.deepwater.com/fw/main/debris-retrieval-977.html so that it can be recovered.

Additional funding

U.S. Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.), ranking member of the Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Appropriations Subcommittee, successfully included an amendment to the fiscal year 2010 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill that will provide assistance to Gulf Coast fishermen harmed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

“We need to begin putting resources in the Gulf to help mitigate the long term effects of what could be the largest and most devastating oil spill in American history,” Shelby stated in a press release issued late last week. “The federal government must provide immediate federal resources to the Gulf Coast to alleviate and recover from the devastating impacts from the oil spill to the Gulf’s fisheries. While I hoped the Administration would realize that a federal disaster declaration means little without adequate funding, they did not. My amendment will begin to allocate the resources the Gulf Coast region needs to mitigate the disastrous effects of the oil spill.”

Shelby said he wrote a letter on May 18 to Commerce Secretary Gary Locke to request a fisheries disaster declaration, as required under current law. Congress must then appropriate funds for the affected communities.

Locke issued an official declaration on May 24, and the amendment Shelby included is expected to provide the needed funding.

The measure provides $15 million for the fisheries disaster declaration in the Gulf, as well as $10 million for an expanded stock assessment of the Gulf fisheries (including, but not limited to, commercial and recreational catch and biological sampling, observer programs, data management and processing, conducting assessments and follow-up evaluations).

The amendment also provides $1 million for Locke to require a National Academy of Sciences study on the long-term ecosystem service impacts of the spill on the Gulf. In particular, it would assess long-term costs to water filtration, hunting, fishing (commercial and recreational), and other economic values associated with the Gulf.

Close to home

Unified Command in Mobile has advised that booming tests conducted at the mouth of Mobile Bay were deemed not feasible due to the swift currents destroying the heaviest booms available. Boom management experts have indicated that booms are effective at currents which run only between 2-3 knots.

The mouth of Mobile Bay will instead be managed using heavy skimming vessels, should it become necessary.

Response operations in Fairhope are now being scaled up at the city’s Pier Street boat ramp, according to Assistant Public Works Director Ken Eslava. He said city officials are now formalizing response plans, working with local contractors in the area and coordinating with the command center in Mobile.

In Daphne, Emergency Management Coordinator Chip Martin said that his team is continuing to monitor developments as the oil slick moves closer to the area, but there were no changes in his response plan over the last few days.

Spanish Fort officials continue to implement wet-staging of boom along four key areas of the region in anticipation of potential landfall. The plan targets a bulkhead just east of the Tensaw River; an area referred to as the Crossiver, where Interstate 10 crosses over the Causeway; an Apalachee River inlet; and a portion of a Blakeley River inlet.

The efforts are part of the state-approved response plan and will be funded with $500,000 of the $25 million BP allocated for oil spill response in Mobile and Baldwin counties.

Staff writers Kelli M. Dugan and Simon Duffy contributed to this report.