Tar Balls Washing Up On Texas Beaches -US Coast Guard

5th Jul 2010 00:53

WASHINGTON (AFP)--The U.S. Coast Guard said Monday that tar balls were spotted this weekend along the Texas shore, and that tests were underway to determine if they were from the massive BP PLC (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. "We immediately commenced cleanup operations and sent samples for laboratory analysis," said Coast Guard Commander Jim Elliott, commanding officer of Marine Safety Unit Galveston, who said in a statement that tar ball samples had been sent to a laboratory to determine if they came from the Deepwater Horizon spill. The statement added that beaches in the state remain open "as the small tar balls pose little safety hazard to beach goers." Officials said the tar balls, spotted along East Beach on Galveston Island and along Crystal Beach on Bolivar Peninsula, range from one to three centimeters in diameter, and cover "less than 1%" of the area's beaches. "Oil spill response contractors are removing them quickly," the statement said. (END) Dow Jones Newswires July 05, 2010 19:53 ET (23:53 GMT)