Oil Spill Mixed Messages

Potential tourists around the country have been barraged with advertising for months noting how things on the Gulf Coast are getting back to normal. Yet, others who are looking out for the long-term health of the Gulf have a different message.

"We need to test the beaches regularly," says Casi Callaway of Mobile Baykeeper. "Tarballs continue to wash up on areas of our 53 miles of beaches. We don't know what that means."

Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier says its a balancing act. Collier says what can be cleaned up, with BP paying for it, needs to get cleaned up. He says this is something we know about. something can be done about it. He says there is no control over the effects of the spill that we don't know about yet. We can only wait until the unknown problems crop up to deal with them.

But says Collier, the facts today seem to indicate that right now, things are okay--for tourists, for locals, and for local businesses. With tourism representing a huge chunk of the economy on the coast, it's important tourists know its safe to come here--until we have a reason that it isn't.