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GRAND ISLE, La. (AP) -Rough seas generated by Hurricane Alex
pushed more oil from the massive spill onto Gulf coast beaches as
cleanup vessels were sidelined by the far-away storm's ripple
effects.

      The hurricane was churning coastal waters across the
oil-affected region on the Gulf of Mexico. Waves as high as 6 feet
and winds over 25 mph were forecast through Thursday just off shore
from the Mississippi Delta in Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle.

      In Louisiana, the storm pushed an oil patch toward Grand Isle
and uninhabited Elmer's Island, dumping tar balls as big as apples
on the beach.

      "The sad thing is that it's been about three weeks since we had
any big oil come in here," marine science technician Michael
Malone said. "With this weather, we lost all the progress we
made."


      The loss of skimmers, combined with gusts driving water into the
coast, left beaches especially vulnerable. In Alabama, the normally
white sand was streaked with long lines of oil. One swath of beach
40 feet wide was stained brown and mottled with globs of oil matted
together.

      Dozens of vessels that were being used to combat the oil spill
were tied to docks Tuesday as Alex, more than 500 miles away,
approached the Texas-Mexico coast. Most days, the fleet would have
been skimming oil from the Gulf and ferrying workers and supplies.
But the hurricane turned many people fighting the 11-week-old spill
into spectators. And they will be for days.

      The nasty weather will likely linger in the Gulf through
Thursday, National Weather Service meteorologist Brian LaMarre
said.

      Officials scrambled to reposition boom to protect the coast, and
had to remove barges that had been blocking oil from reaching
sensitive wetlands. Those operations could soon get a boost. The
U.S. accepted offers of help from 12 countries and international
organizations. Japan, for instance, was sending two skimmers and
boom.


      Alex is projected to stay far from the spill zone off the
Louisiana coast. It is not expected to affect work at the site of
the blown-out well. But the storm's outer edges complicated the
cleanup.


      Early Wednesday, Alex had maximum sustained winds near 80 mph
(130 kph). The National Hurricane Center said the Category 1 storm
is the first June Atlantic hurricane since 1995. It is on track for
the Texas-Mexico border region and expected to make landfall
Wednesday night.

      As Alex approached, skimming efforts off the coasts of
Louisiana, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi had mostly stopped.

      At the main staging area for oil cleanup efforts around Grand
Isle, stacks of boom, bottled water, ice chests and cleaning
materials stood ready to load up when the work restarted.

      Brothers Otis and Vahn Butler of Houma got jobs there just three
days ago.


      "We've been steady busy until today," Otis Butler said. "Now
we're mostly standing around and looking around. We just find
things to do when we can today. But once this is over, I bet we'll
be twice as busy."

      The rough seas and winds aren't all bad, though - scientists
have said they could help break apart the oil and make it evaporate
faster.

      The wave action, combined with dispersants sprayed by the Coast
Guard, have helped break a 6-by-30-mile oil patch into smaller
patches, Coast Guard Cmdr. Joe Higgens said.

      "It's good news because there is less on the surface," Higgens
said. "It's surface oil that washes up on the beaches."

      On the beach, cleanup workers struggled with wind that blew sand
into their eyes and mouths and humidity that let the sand stick to
their skin.


      Jefferson Parish Council member Chris Roberts said the oil was
entering passes Tuesday at Barataria Bay, home to diverse wildlife.
A day earlier, barges that had been placed in the bay to block the
oil were removed because of rough seas. Boom was being displaced
and had to be repositioned, he said in an e-mail.


      The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation, and
Enforcement said 28 platforms and three rigs in the path of the
storm in the western Gulf have been evacuated. Still in the water
are vessels being used to capture or burn spewing oil and gas and
those drilling relief wells that officials say are the best hope
for stopping the leak for good.


      Hurricane warnings were posted for parts of the coast along
Mexico and Texas. Except for the border area itself, though, most
of the warning area is lightly populated.


      So far, between 70.8 million gallons and 137.6 million of oil
have spewed into the Gulf from the broken BP well, according to
government and BP estimates. The higher estimate is enough oil to
fill half of New York's Empire State Building with oil.


      Associated Press writers Jay Reeves in Gulf Shores, Ala., Kevin
McGill and Michael Kunzelman in New Orleans and Matthew Lee in
Washington, D.C., contributed to this report.
      
      (Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

Gallery

Rough seas halt skimming operations off Gulf Coast

BP giving financial help to stations

Disasters

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Environmental News

Dozens of small skiffs, huge shrimp boats
and even a swamp tour boat were tied to docks, winds whipping their
flags and waves rocking them even in the sheltered marina.

Wind, waves from hurricane dock oil skimming boats

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