Tar balls are washing up at area beaches, first reported last week off Seal Beach and now Newport Beach’s coastline.
The blobs of tar have authorities investigating the source, but so far tests indicate it is naturally occurring seepage officials said.
Test results from samples collected so far don’t connect the tar to recent spills in the area, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Spill Prevention & Response team announced Thursday, March 17.
“The samples are consistent with non-production, natural seep oil,” the alert posted on social media says.
Also, there were two dead birds discovered in Redondo Beach, but the birds were not oiled and their mortality is unrelated to the increase in tarballs, CDFW officials said.
The tar washing up on shore follows an oil spill in October that spewed an estimated 25,000 gallons into the ocean off Huntington Beach from a pipeline breach. The spill shut down beaches and the ocean to fishing and prompted a massive clean-up effort by hazmat crews.
While beaches were officially cleared in December, authorities are remaining alert to additional signs of potential spills or pipeline leaks, officials have said.
Newport Beach Marine Safety Chief Brian O’Rourke said lifeguards spotted moderate tar balls in Corona del Mar on Wednesday, March 16, and by Thursday they were found throughout the city’s coastline.
“The tar has impacted all of our beaches, from light in some areas to moderate,” O’Rourke said, describing the size of the tar balls from marbles to cell phones.
The natural seepage indicated by the sampling tests does occur on occasion, he said.
“Some years they are light and some years they are heavy. It depends on seepage and ocean conditions,” he said.
Beaches are not closed and signs have not been posted yet, but authorities are monitoring the situation, he said, and keeping up-to-date with information from the response teams.
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