WBRZ - Baton Rouge

People on Grand Isle worry money flowing in fast now will soon dry up.

Money has been rolling into Grand Isle all summer and continues to do so as "tourist season" winds down, despite the island's close proximity to the oil leak in the Gulf.

Clifford Santiny's business at Richard's Conoco cooking lunches has doubled since the spill as workers pour in for a bite to eat. But he worries it won't last forever; lunches have already dwindled from around 900 to 300 each day.

Santiny is also a town councilman, and says Grand Isle is considering filing a claim with BP for future losses.

"We have two types of work here, and that's either shrimping or the oil business," Santiny said. "We couldn't fish, and we are hurting... because the President stopped the deep water drilling, so that's hurting, cutting people back."

Steven Chevalier owns a local hotel and isn't waiting any longer to file his claim.

"I'm gonna have a claim put in. That way, they can't say two years down the road, 'It's too late!'" Chevalier said. "[It's] not because of loss of business this year, but the potential loss the next five years."

Contractors hired to clean up oil on Grand Isle's beaches say they will be there for at least two more months cleaning sand.