Restoring What BP Destroyed

Wind and water constantly change the 18 to 20 miles of sand dunes on Baldwin County beaches.

"The dunes are our first line of defense against any kind of storms any kind of wave action." According to Brandan Franklin with the city of Gulf Shores, they took a beating during the BP oil spill. "With the number of access points a lot of our clean up crews have had to use a lot of our dunes have been destroyed."

Part of that defensive line between the Gulf of Mexico and beach homes and businesses is slated to be one of the first restoration projects funded by BP. "The more dunes we can build up, the better we can protect em. The more we enhance what we have there the better off we are protecting our structures along the beach," says Franklin.

Baldwin County's restoration project will do three things. Provide vegetation, sand fencing and informational signs hopefully resulting in sand dunes that look a lot like this.

"We've just initiated these first few projects so that's a great start for us. We are always looking at continuing to make progress." In a telephone interview, BP's chief environmental scientist Robin Bullock says the projects are a good start. "Here are some early restoration projects which we believe will be successful and we believe provide an early jumpstart to the mitigation associated with the oil spill."

If approved the Baldwin County project could start this summer according to Franklin. "For the most part we have some great dunes established but there are still some areas that really need enhancement."

None of the projects have final approval and can be changed.

The public will have an opportunity to comment on this project at a public hearing in Gulf Shores January 24th.

If approved the money will buy almost 400 thousand plants and 20 thousand feet of sand fencing.