In 2009, the beaches ranked among the top 200 in the U.S. for water quality, reported the Natural Resources Defense Council. Now, in the 14 weeks since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded, the beaches at Gulf Shores have been closed to swimming in excess of 50 days. "Gulf Shores really puts the situation in stark relief. Here's a popular, well-monitored beach closed to swimming more than 53 days during its peak season," said Jon Devine, a senior attorney with the council, a Washington, D.C.-based public-interest group. He said that Gulf Shores and Orange Beach had done the responsible thing by putting up the double-red flags to ensure "the safety of their visitors." Steve Garman, Gulf Shores city administrator, said that the city's policy from the beginning has been "safety first," even at the risk of losing tourists. "On the one hand, we've yet to find any reliable source that tells us there's a contamination problem in the water," Garman said. "However, as long as there's any indication there's oil in the water we're going to do all we can to protect people from being exposed to it." He said that officials of the two cities discussed taking down the double-red flags at some point in the ...
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