ORANGE BEACH, Ala. — When BP representative Kris Sliger stepped to the microphone at the Orange Beach town hall meeting on Monday, he was bearing good news.

In Sliger’s term, referring to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, he told the audience that “the wicked witch of the west was dead.” He was referring to the Macondo well that has spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since April 20.

“We are now looking at whether or not we want to put cement into the well, which would add an extra layer of protection beyond what is already in place.”

According to Sliger, the well was showing zero amounts of pressure and that it was basically dead.

“It has not been releasing oil in 20 days and it is becoming increasingly difficult to find any,” Sliger said.

Although the news was what people have been waiting weeks to hear, the room full of charter boat captains who were no longer being deployed in the Vessel of Opportunity (VOO) program were still wanting answers as to how they were going to survive the economic meltdown caused by the catastrophe.

According to Orange Beach Mayor Tony Kennon, however, the issue was far from over and he expressed a fear of BP “exiting left.”

“You know, after one of the hurricanes, we were all excited because the storm had passed through and the power was coming back on and everybody was happy, but then my wife reminded me that it wasn’t over until the cable was back on,” Kennon said. “Well, that is sort of like how I feel about this. With all due respect, this isn’t over until we say it’s over.”

Kennon said he was afraid that many locals might begin to let their guards down, which would make economic recovery much more difficult for the city.

“Mr. Feinberg being here last week was very positive, but at the same time I don’t know if there is money in the bank yet and he hasn’t started writing checks, so until we see it, we cannot drop our guard or let up.”

Numerous boat captains took to the microphone to express their concerns about being bumped from the active VOO program and wanted to know why the claims process continued to give them so much trouble.

A meeting was scheduled for Friday morning between boat captains and BP representatives to find a way to keep local boats working, even though the program has been scaled back from 1,500 boats to only 138 active.

Linda Whitlock, CEO of the Alabama Gulf Coast Area Chamber of Commerce said the road ahead still looked bleak for area businesses.

“Well, we are worried, and everyone’s worried and concerned for each other,” Whitlock. “We are all friends and neighbors and we are worried about each other.”

Whitlock said that the business community has been coming together in very quiet ways many may never know and they have continued to be very supportive of each other.

“I want us all to remember how important we are to each other and to our community.”

Whitlock said that in many of the meetings regarding local businesses, many tears have been shed.

“It is very difficult to have a business come to me and sit down and look at me with tears streaming down their face, telling me that they don’t know how to let their employees know that they can no longer take care of them,” Whitlock said.

Whitlock said many businesses believed BP early on when they said that they were committed to “making businesses whole,” but that it just hasn’t happened.

Still, Whitlock said  with at least a little help from BP, most businesses will hopefully make it through the crisis.

“If we can just hold on and if we can get some help from BP, with the resources that we have, we will be okay. We are okay.”