An 8-mile stretch of the South Bay coastline remained closed Thursday as officials attempted to identify and clean up the globs of tar that washed ashore the day before, coating the area’s most popular beaches.
U.S. Coast Guard officials said it could take several days for scientists to determine the source and identity of the apparent solidifed oil patties, which can pose long-term health risks. The cleanup efforts are expected to take up to a week as hired crews pick up the baseball- to football-sized black tar balls scattered across the sand.
The Coast Guard and Los Angeles County Lifeguards warned the public to stay out of the water until further notice as it’s unclear if oil will continue to wash up with the tide.
• Video: Officials ask public to stay out of water
The petroleum-based substance began appearing on shore around 10 a.m. Wednesday, prompting the closure of South Bay beaches soon after.
All beaches from the El Segundo jetty south to the Torrance/Redondo Beach border were expected to reopen today if officials ensure there is no threat to public health.
“As long as we don’t have those tar patties or balls washing back up on the beach, we’re fairly comfortable that it will be safe for the public to enjoy the beach Friday morning,” said Mike Rogers, chief of emergency operations for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.
By Thursday, the beaches were closed only from the lifeguard towers out to the water.
“We are warning the public that swimming is not advised,” said L.A. County Lifeguard Section Chief Chris Linkletter. “They are still testing what’s washed up. Any contact with the water or whatever washed up can be potentially dangerous.”
Public Health officials also sent out advisories to residents to avoid contact with the water, wet sand or any material that washed up in the area, as contact with oil can cause skin irritation and headaches and result in long-term health problems.
• Video: Surfers say they aren’t afraid of water despite warnings
Despite warnings, including lifeguard boats patrolling the ocean shouting out orders from a megaphone, surfers continued to ride the waves Thursday, as people ran along the beach west of the lifeguard towers.
“Those surfers are being stupid,” said Rep. Ted Lieu, who was on scene in Manhattan Beach Thursday morning. “You don’t want petroleum products on your skin or ingested or anywhere near you. There’s a reason we don’t cover ourselves with oil.”
Lieu implored the public to stay away from the beaches and out of the water until officials gave them the all-clear.
• Video: Lieu warns swimmers to stay away
“It’s very important that people stay away,” he said. “We don’t know the scope of the spill, we don’t know exactly what’s causing it, and we don’t want people to get sick.”
Coast Guard and lifeguard officials patrolled the stretch of coastline by air, land and sea throughout the day Thursday in attempts to determine the source and if the substance was continuing to come on shore. By noon, Capt. Charlene Downey of the U.S. Coast Guard, the federal on-scene commander, said the various agencies had not spotted any new tar patties other than those already being recovered. She estimated that cleanup crews had collected 30 cubic yards of the tar by noon, with much more still to be removed.
So far, the federal government, through the Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund, is paying for the cleanup efforts, handled by a company called Ocean Blue Environmental. The estimated cost of the cleanup efforts has not yet been released.
It’s too early to tell whether the oil incident in the South Bay is connected to the May 19 spill north of Santa Barbara near Refugio State Beach that dumped more than 21,000 gallons of oil into the ocean from a ruptured underwater pipeline and caused the death of pelicans, dolphins, sea lions and many other species of marine life.
Although there does not appear to be evidence of an extensive ocean spill, authorities have not ruled out leakage from the oil vessels offshore as a cause or a rupture from the Chevron oil refinery pipeline just to the north. The state will conduct testing on samples of product from Chevron tanks anchored near Manhattan Beach and all known seeps. A representative from Chevron could not be reached for comment.
“It’s still too early to tell what the source is,” Downey said. “We’re taking all the steps necessary to collect samples to send to the labs. But it takes time. We may not know for a week. And we may never know.”
According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), tar balls are remnants of oil spills — crude oil when mixed with water thickens due to wind and waves in a process called “weathering.” Eventually, weathering will create a tar ball that is hard and crusty on the outside, yet gooey on the inside, according to the NOAA website.
Linkletter noted that lifeguards often see globs of tar on the beach from natural seepage.
“But this seems to be more widespread and there’s more of it, so that’s what makes this different,” she said.
As television crews lined up cameras at Bruce’s Beach Thursday, surfer Scott Berk zipped up his wetsuit and headed toward the water. He said he had also surfed the day before, and the water looked fine.
“I don’t know why it’s such a huge circus right now,” he said. “It’s nothing like Santa Barbara for sure. I’ve seen globs of tar on the beach for a long time. It’s probably coagulated crude (oil) that forms patches and floats around. It’s not a great thing. I wish we didn’t have it.”
Lieu noted that oil has a distinct fingerprint, and federal and state scientists will be able to compare the samples collected in the South Bay against a database of the different kinds of oil.
If it is determined that the tar originated from Chevron or any other company, they would be required to reimburse the federal government for the cleanup efforts, Lieu said.
The environmental group Heal the Bay, which had two scientists on scene, said the pollution appears to be a combination of “large clumps of oil and tar … The sand along the tideline is peppered with thousands of thick globs ranging in size from a baseball to a football.”
• PHOTOS: Oil and tar fouls Manhattan Beach
The Heal the Bay scientists say “it is simply too early to tell where the oil comes from natural seepage, or from an oil spill from a local refinery or a pipeline located nearby.”
So far, no wildlife appear to be impacted in the South Bay, according to Saul Garcia, from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Garcia said if the public does come across injured wildlife, to leave them where they are and contact the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at 877-623-6926. The department is conducting an investigation into the source of the spill and has taken samples, he said.
Recorded information on beach conditions is available 24 hours a day on the county’s beach advisory hotline by calling (800) 525-5662 or online at http://www.publichealth.lacounty.gov/beach/.
