Restoring the Gulf: Final Report

The BP oil disaster may have done one good thing by focusing attention on the Gulf of Mexico. The challenges it faces and how to fix it.

"It looks like the rest of the country is beginning to understand how big of an economic impact the gulf plays on the whole nation," says Executive Director of Mobile Baykeeper Casi Callaway.

The Gulf of Mexico provides 75 percent of the nations seafood, 54 percent of oil and gas come from the gulf. The list goes on and on. "We've been saying the environment is the economy for years but the oil disaster showed people how much an environmental disaster can wreck your economy."

The report outlines strategies that could improve water quality, restore and conserve habitat, protecting and replenishing coastal and marine resources and enhance community resilience. Issues that have been addressed over the years but this recipe for recovery does something different according to coastal resource manager for Orange Beach Phillip West. "That's going to allow us to more efficiently focus some of the funding that's coming through. Whether it's NRDA or the fine money and probably used more efficiently."

The challenge now, to actually do the work. Restore the environment. "The oil disaster was an environmental disaster that was an economic bomb for us. We have to take time now to invest in our environmental restoration so we can have a long term stable economy," says Callaway.

If there is a silver lining to the worst oil disaster in U.S. history, this could be it.

To kick start restoration the U.S. Department of Agriculture is providing 50 million dollars to restore seven gulf coast river basins.

Environmentalists say that's a good start and gives them hope strategies set forth in the task force report will actually be funded and implemented.