Locals say BP scaleback comes too soon

DAUPHIN ISLAND, Ala. (WALA) - The gushing well has been capped now for 14 days, relief wells are getting close to being finished, and the beaches look relatively clean. But, we know the oil burned, picked up, and skimmed doesn't equal the amount that leaked out, meaning there is more out in the gulf.

The fate of that leftover oil is why some people think BP's CEO Bob Dudley's plan to scaleback comes too soon.

"Until the threat is totally over and we are in the clear we want response teams in the area," Dauphin Island Mayor Jeff Collier said.

And there are plenty more people who agree with Mayor Collier. Just because oil isn't rolling up on the beach in globs, doesn't mean the problem is gone.

Collier added he wants his town to be fully prepared for more oil.

"Well I understand as the threat is reduced I would assume they would have a proportionate reduction in both equipment and personnel but at the same time being the community on the front line we want to make sure they don't totally leave because one thing is the surface oil and the jury is still out on the subsurface."

Although the CEO of BP didn't call for an all out pull out, his scale back strategy has many coastal residents worried.

"Well scaling back right now I think would be the wrong thing I think they need to just keep going with it, get everything they can while they can before it gets on the beach it's all they can do that way we won't have as much stuff to do on the beach and it won't kill so much," Reid Powe, a local Islander who loves to fish said.

"It is still our there and it is going to have a big impact whether or not you can see it or whether you can," a beachgoer said.

Mayor Collier said one of his main concerns is that local workers will be laid off in the scale back. He said it is critical during the scale back Dauphin Islanders in the "VOO" program and local contractors are the ones kept on the job.