Mayor: Tar balls wash onto Alabama beach

[ChandlerJr]

ORANGE BEACH, Ala. (WLS) - A mayor in coastal Alabama says small tar balls are washing onto the state's prime tourist beaches because of the heavy surf kicked up by Tropical Storm Lee.
Tony Kennon, the mayor of Orange Beach, Ala., said Tuesday that the tar balls reported so far are very small. He says officials with the Alabama Department of Environmental Management are already on the beach trying to assess the situation.
It is not clear where the tar balls came from. Kennon said this was the heaviest surf seen in the area since last year's Gulf oil spill.
Oil from the 2010 BP spill washed ashore and fouled Gulf Coast beaches that are popular tourist destinations.
BP officials did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

BP has no comment.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Much more detail here at al.com:

He described the tarballs as roughly 2-inches, by 3-inches in "fairly consistent" conglomerations about every 50 feet in that area along the beach, the first spot city officials checked this morning.

Brown also reported seeing tarballs in the near-shore surf.

The location is near where BP and city officials reported spotting an offshore tar mat, though its scheduled cleanup was postponed, Brown said.


http://blog.al.com/live/2011/09/tar_balls_spotted_in_gulf_shor.html