NRDC Beach Report Makes It Official: Alabama's Gulf Shores Suffers Oil Spill's Cruelest Blow

(July 28) -- There's plenty of bad news to go around in this year's annual beach report from the Natural Resources Defense Council. The document, released today, has a special section on stretches of coast affected by the BP oil spill, and one in particular captures the sad story of the disaster's impact on the gulf.

According to the NRDC, Gulf Shores Public Beach in Alabama is one of the top beaches in the country, receiving the NRDC's highest five-star rating for its conditions throughout 2009. It's also been closed 53 days this year because of the oil spill.

At the beginning of the month, Jimmy Buffett gave a free benefit concert in Gulf Shores to try to lure back tourists. Robert Craft, the mayor of Gulf Shores, told The New York Times that tax revenue in June and July -- the city's moneymaking months -- was expected to be down 50 percent, at a cost of $2.5 million to the city.

A Fox10 report on Saturday showed double red flags -- the signal that swimming is prohibited -- flying over empty beaches, though one person who spoke with the station said the emptiness was mostly due to a passing downpour. Views from live webcams on the beach today showed swimmers in the water, even though the red flags were flying again. In the last week, little oil has been seen in the area, and daily flyovers haven't found any visible oil sheen, according to the Alabama Gulf Coast Convention & Visitors Bureau website.

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