Oil washes onto Mississippi tourist beach

Biloxi gets hit by tarballs; only 3 contractors seen cleaning up

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Video: Biloxi blues

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Transcript of: Biloxi blues

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BRIAN WILLIAMS, anchor (Venice, Louisiana): And now, as this oil spreads, so does the fear among shore communities down here that they are going to be next. And that happened again today. Our own Mark Potter is in Biloxi , Mississippi , about 85 miles from where we are tonight. Mark , good evening.

MARK POTTER reporting: And good evening to you, Brian . For so long the state of Mississippi dodged the bullet and had no oil coming ashore. But now the oil is here, and people who live here are angry and worried, just like everyone else along the Gulf Coast . For the first time BP workers are on the beaches in Mississippi now, cleaning up tar balls and patties in Biloxi . They washed ashore yesterday and are still coming. But Mayor AJ Holloway is angry at BP and the federal government.

Major AJ HOLLOWAY: Not one skimmer out there working. Just letting it come. Not trying to prevent it. You know, it's just un -- it's unbelievable. You know? They're not doing their job.

POTTER: On a rock jetty in Ocean Springs , Jody and Natalie Mays came out to fish with their kids, but found the water off limits, and some of the rocks here coated in oil.

Ms. NATALIE MAYS: The kids won't be able to swim. The fishing is over.

Mr. JODY MAYS: I mean, it's really awful. I mean, it's going to be -- it's going to be rough for a lot of people.

POTTER: At Snapper's Seafood Restaurant , a popular tourist stop in Biloxi , business is already down 30 to 40 percent in what would normally be the busiest time of year. With oil on shore it could easily get worse.

Mr. MARK BALIUS (Snapper's Seafood Restaurant Owner): Well, it's devastating. There's -- who wants to go to a beach when beaches are covered with oil?

POTTER: Biloxi city officials say they asked BP for skimmer boats and lots of boom to protect the barrier islands and shoreline, but didn't get them.

Mr. VINCENT CREEL (City of Biloxi Spokesman): The sad part is that people have had two months to get ready for this , yet it's still coming ashore. It should have been stopped 12 miles out.

POTTER: With 26 miles of Gulf Coast beaches, Mississippi is now bracing for more oil. And today's storms in the gulf are fueling those worries. High winds and rough seas mean that more than just tar balls could be coming ashore

here soon. Brian: Mark Potter in Biloxi , Mississippi . Mark , thanks.

WILLIAMS:

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Photos: Month 4

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The Blue Dolphin, left, and the HOS Centerline, the ships supplying the mud for the static kill operation on the Helix Q4000, are seen delivering mud through hoses at the site of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coast of Louisiana, on Aug. 3, 2010. In the background is the Development Driller III, which is drilling the primary relief well. (Gerald Herbert / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Related video Analysis: 'Majority of oil evaporated or burned'
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Eddie Forsythe and Don Rorabough dump a box of blue crabs onto a sorting table at B.K. Seafood in Yscloskey, La., on Aug. 3, 2010. The crabs were caught by fisherman Garet Mones. Commercial and recreational fishing has resumed, with some restrictions in areas that were closed by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. (Chuck Cook / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Sea turtle hatchlings that emerged from eggs gathered on the northern Gulf Coast of Florida are released at Playalinda Beach on the Canaveral National Seashore near Titusville, Fla., on Aug. 2, 2010. The sea turtles were born at a Kennedy Space Center incubation site, where thousands of eggs collected from Florida and Alabama beaches along the Gulf of Mexico have been sent. (Craig Rubadoux / Florida Today via AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related video Gulf crews prep for ‘static kill’
A crab, covered with oil, walks along an oil absorbent boom near roso-cane reeds at the South Pass of the Mississippi River in Plaquemines Parish, Louisiana on Aug. 1, 2010. BP is testing the well to see if it can withstand a "static kill" which would close the well permanently. (Pool / Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation
A boat motors through a sunset oil sheen off East Grand Terre Island, where the Gulf of Mexico meets Barataria Bay on the La. coast, on the evening of July 31. (Gerald Herbert / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Related video Concern over oil-dispersants used in Gulf
Oil approaches a line of barges and boom positioned to protect East Grand Terre Island, partially seen at top right, on July 31. (Gerald Herbert / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is seen near an unprotected island in the Gulf of Mexico near Timbalier Bay, off the coast of Louisiana on Wednesday, July 28. (Gerald Herbert / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation

Related video Where has the Gulf oil slick gone?
Greenpeace activists stand outside a BP gas station in London, England, on July 27 after they put up a fence to cut off access. Several dozen BP stations in London were temporarily shut down to protest the Gulf spill. (Leon Neal / AFP - Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation
James Wilson sells T-shirts to those arriving in Grand Isle, La., for the music festival Island Aid 2010 on July 24. (Dave Martin / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Activists covered in food coloring made to look like oil protest BP's Gulf oil spill in Mexico City on July 22. The sign at far left reads in Spanish "Petroleum kills animals." (Alexandre Meneghini / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
People in Lafayette, La., wear "Keep Drilling" tee shirts at the "Rally for Economic Survival" opposing the federal ban on deepwater drilling in the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, July 21. Supporters at the rally want President Obama to lift the moratorium immediately to protect Louisiana's jobs and economy. (Ann Heisenfelt / EPA) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Related slideshow Grim inventory of wildlife claimed by Gulf spill
A flock of white ibis lift off from marsh grass on Dry Bread Island in St. Bernard Parish, La., July 21. Crews found about 130 dead birds and 15 live birds affected by oil from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on July 19 in the eastern part of the parish behind the Chandeleur Islands. (Patrick Semansky / AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Kenneth Feinberg, administrator of the BP Oil Spill Victim Compensation Fund testifies during a hearing before the House Judiciary Committee on July 21 in Washington, D.C. The hearing was to examine the claim process for victims of the Gulf Coast oil spill. (Alex Wong / Getty Images) Share Back to slideshow navigation
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An American white pelican has its wings checked during a physical examination at Brookfield Zoo’s Animal Hospital by Michael Adkesson and Michael O’Neill on July 21. The bird, along with four other pelicans, was rescued from the Gulf Coast oil spill and will be placed on permanent exhibit at the zoo. (Jim Schulz / Chicago Zoological Society via AP) Share Back to slideshow navigation
Native people of the Gwich'in Nation form a human banner on the banks of the Porcupine River near Ft. Yukon, Alaska July 21, in regard to the BP oil spill with a message to protect the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge from oil development. The images include a Porcupine caribou antler and a threatened Yukon River Salmon. (Camila Roy / Spectral Q via Reuters) Share Back to slideshow navigation