MOBILE, Ala. MOBILE, Ala. (AP) As countless tar balls washed ashore on a beach along Alabama's Gulf Coast, cleanup workers sat and watched because they didn't have the proper plastic covers to protect their shoes. Elsewhere, a crew using shovels and garden rakes worked for hours on a long stretch of sand that a machine could have cleaned in minutes.
Almost two months after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, shortages of government-required protective gear and cleaning equipment are slowing work to remove the sticky mess and keep beaches and marshes along the Gulf Coast safe and oil-free.
BP says it's doing all it can to keep supplies stocked and has had to turn to foreign companies for help. But with demand so high for everything from plastic gloves, to oil-blocking booms and sand-sifting machines, finding enough items to outfit workers and protect the coast is an unending task.
As the oil first stained the Alabama coast, officials say some people hired to pick up tar balls off the sand couldn't lift a finger because they didn't have the bright yellow boot covers that have since become ubiquitous on the beach. The workers eventually got the booties, and now, it sometimes seems like there are more of them on the sand than bare feet.
BP also is still trying to find additional sand-sifting machines, which are capable of cleaning long areas of beach in minutes rather than the hours it takes to do the work by hand. The company didn't even know they existed until Gulf Shores Mayor Robert Craft recently showed off one operated by the city.
Coast Guard Lt. Erik Halvorson, a spokesman for the unified area command overseeing the spill response, said shortages haven't caused any major slowdowns in the cleanup, and large orders have been placed in advance when needs are anticipated.
"I believe that any response work delays ... are localized and short term, not widespread," he said.
Late Monday, BP spokesman Bill Salvin told The Associated Press that the company has contracted with actor Kevin Costner and Ocean Therapy Solutions to use 32 http://its-africa.co.za/index.php
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