Ala. coast recovering from oil spill amid worries - BusinessWeek

When Ike Williams recently saw his first traffic jam of the year, he knew Alabama's beach economy was beginning to recover from the Gulf oil spill a year ago.

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Rather than muttering under his breath about the snarl, which stretched nearly three miles north off the beachfront road, Williams was relieved to see cars, campers and trucks once again clogging the main road into Gulf Shores. All the worries about oil and BP's payments on financial claims seemed a little more distant, even though tarballs, the pieces of weathered oil, still come in now and then. Rather than muttering under his breath about the snarl, which stretched nearly three miles north off the beachfront road, Williams was relieved to see cars, campers and trucks once again clogging the main road into Gulf Shores. All the worries about oil and BP's payments on financial claims seemed a little more distant, even though tarballs, the pieces of weathered oil, still come in now and then. "We used to fuss about that (traffic), but it was such a welcome sight," said Williams, who owns Ike's Beach Service and has made a living for about 30 years renting chairs and umbrellas to visitors on the beach.

Ala. coast recovering from oil spill amid worries - BusinessWeek