Every stride that Louis Chavira took was another step into oily waters. His boots were covered in chocolate-colored mulch mixed with dirt and his hands were encased in grimy gloves. Leaning in to scoop up another shovelful of oil and dirt, he let out a deep sigh.

“Somebody’s got to do it,” said Chavira, a resident of Grand Isle, La. “I’m a lifetime resident of this parish, and I’ve made a lot of my living on the water. If this doesn’t get under control very fast, we could lose all these wetlands.”

After more than a month of oil spewingfrom a BP drilling site in the Gulf of Mexico, communities such as Grand Isle, on a small barrier island off the coast of Louisiana, are experiencing the direct effects of an ongoing struggle between an approaching oil slick and protective containment booms.

Chavira and other residents from nearby areas have flocked to Grand Isle looking for ways to help clean up the dense oil accumulating in the Gulf. Some come for the $10-an-hour jobs with BP. Others are trying to save their community’s coast and protect threatened wildlife and marshes.

“My intention is to work here as much as humanly possible without jeopardizing any safety issues,” Chavira said.

Shortly after the oil rig exploded, the Grand Isle Community Center opened its doors to BP officials looking for workers to aid in the cleanup effort. Jennifer Cox, a BP official based in Baton Rouge, was at a table in the center’s front lobby on Saturday. She said applicants were still coming in, although the pace has slowed.

On Friday, government officials closed the beaches along the seven-mile stretch of land indefinitely, clearing the way for cleanup crews to work. On Elmer’s Island, a bit of beach east of Grand Isle, about 100 temporary employees and volunteers for BP have been busy scooping and shoveling sandy oil.

On the streets of Grand Isle, local residents who depend on the food harvest and fish for themselves wait for new developments. A lack of government intervention angers some residents.

Throughout the year, vacationers and tourists came through Grand Isle and rented properties for fishing and leisure.

Pat Childress, 75, and Roy Williams, 77, are two of the few permanent residents on their street. They’ve seen visitors pack up and leave because small pockets of oil make it unhealthful to fish and swim. Down to their last batch of fish, the couple said they refuse to go out for more until the water is completely clean.

“I’m not afraid of the oil,” Williams said. “I’m afraid of the chemicals they are using to clean the oil.”

As a hotspot for tourists, Grand Isle could face difficulties in the months to come if the oil spill is not contained.

Zee Lafont, a waitress at the Starfish Restaurant and a Grand Isle native, said that in just a month, the business has seen a 60 percent decline in attendance. Much of the shrimp, oysters and fish sold at the Starfish come from local shrimpers and fishermen.

And with the approaching hurricane season predicted to be an especially active one, those numbers could go down even more.

“Tourists aren’t coming down,” she said. “One of our major concerns is a hurricane. If that oil comes on this land, we will be devastated and that’s really scary. What we need here is a miracle.”

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