I spent18 mths working the BP oilspill. One year on Dauphin Island, Al. and 6 mths in Gulf Shores, Al. The long term effects of the oil spill, I have no idea about. I can only tell you what I saw while I was there.
Katie Curric sp? ruined the tourism on Dauphin Island. Every morning for weeks, she would do a news cast from the island and tell how bad it was and they would show a pic of the Louisiana marsh area. It killed the island that summer and for no reason. Yes, there was a little oil showed up on the beaches, but for the most part, the natural tar balls was worse than the oil. Besides, they had clean up crews working at night to keep the oil cleaned up.
Some good did come of the disaster..... they closed the break in Dauphin Island caused by Hurricane Katrina. This kept out the salt water, that had killed the oyster beds north of the island in the Miss. Sound. Since the salinity had gone down, they were making and reseeding oyster beds. I dont know if this worked or not.
I got to Gulf Shores a year after the spill, in June of 2011. I dont know how the economy was in the summer of '10, but it was booming in the summer of '11. The locals said it was one of their best years, ever.
I know this doesn't answer the OP's question, but it's what I saw.
And, deep water Reds are the best shrimp!
