Summer of Oil Looms for Beleaguered Gulf Coast

This summer on the oil-stained Gulf Coast promises to be like no other.

Just off Louisiana on Grand Isle, which was hit with oil from the spill, the beach reopened for Memorial Day weekend but with several caveats: No swimming or fishing, and stay away from oil cleanup crews. Elsewhere, fishermen were idled during what's normally a busy season, and floating hotels were being set up to house workers who will try to mop up the crude seeping into marshes.

With BP making yet another attempt to stem the flow from a blown-out well in the Gulf of Mexico -- this time only to contain the leak, not stop it -- signs point to August before any real end is in sight. The new plan carries the risk of making the torrent worse, top government officials have warned. On top of that, hurricane season begins Tuesday.

''I was just sitting here thinking our way of life is over. It's the end, the apocalypse,'' said fisherman Tom Young of Plaquemines Parish on the coast. ''And no one outside of these few parishes really cares. They say they do, but they don't do nothing but talk. Where's the action? Where's the person who says these are real people, real people with families and they are hurting?''

Responding to suggestions that the military should take the lead in responding to the spill, Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Adm. Mike Mullen said Monday the oil industry is better-equipped to deal with the disaster.

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