BP Oil Spill Claims Online

MOBILE, Alabama -- The number of residents reporting oil-related health affects from the Gulf of Mexico oil spill continues to rise in coastal Alabama.

“At the very peak of this response, we had more than 48,000 people deployed. Today, we still have 30,000 people. It’s still a significant response,” Utsler said, speaking of the entire response spanning Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and the Florida panhandle. “What will change is the type of workforce we use and where we use them.”

Michael Bromwich, director of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, says his agency will work with the Coast Guard to investigate the fire. The oil platform is owned by Houston-based Mariner Energy Inc.

The company said today that the total included $399 million paid to settle 127,000 claims from businesses and other affected by the oil spill.

It's "a tool for us to tell the story of our recovery," said state Rep. Spencer Collier, R-Irvington. "Our beaches are clean, and the seafood is as safe today as it was before the spill."