(The Orange Beach Community Website file photo: Gill Net Boat)Bon Secour man was gill-netting when boat tipped over; salvage attempt claimed second vessel
Tuesday, April 08, 2008
By RYAN DEZEMBER
Staff Reporter
ORANGE BEACH -- A fishing boat owned by a Bon Secour gill net fisherman capsized in the Gulf of Mexico late Sunday and he had a second vessel overturn early Monday while he was trying to salvage his first boat.
Both boats washed onto a section of beach crowded with tourists Monday.
No one was injured in either incident, but the fisherman, Johnny Williamson, lost pretty much everything on both boats. And the stretch of beach where the boats washed up smelled strongly of gasoline.
Alabama Marine Police Sgt. Jody Kelley said that the larger of the two boats had been carrying about 80 gallons of fuel and that it had been leaking from the boat since it capsized.
Orange Beach Coastal Resources Manager Phillip West said that because the fuel will evaporate in the sun quickly and be carried away with currents, it probably won't do much lasting environmental damage.
"There are more significant health risks than environmental threats associated with a gasoline spill of this size and location," West said. "However, it isn't likely that the spill was heavy enough in a short enough period of time to cause burns or respiratory problems for swimmers."
City officials will continue to monitor the area for oil residue, he said.
Kelley said that Williamson was out in his 24-foot-boat setting his nets just beyond the sand bar nearest to shore at about 11 p.m. Sunday.
"He got too close to the shoreline and a big wave hit him sideways," Kelley said.
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