Officials are responding to an influx of reports of peculiar black tar masses in the waters and beaches in Malibu, according to multiple beach cleanup and monitoring agencies.
An oil spill in Santa Barbara County on May 19, where reports estimate more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil leaked out of a 24-inch pipe and into Refugio State Beach, may have prompted beach closures last week in the South Bay from El Segundo to the Redondo Beach border due to multiple reports of tar balls along the shore.
The U.S. Coast Guard reported over 95 percent of the beaches in the South Bay have been combed and cleaned by an assessment team, with collected tar samples sent to various agencies for chemical testing that could prove where the mysterious black sludge originated, and if the tar found in the South Bay is related to the Refugio spill.
But an explanation as to why the black masses are showing up along shores in Malibu (or any of the beaches in southern California) have yet to be determined.
“We don’t exactly have any answers [as to why the tar is showing up on beaches],” Coast Guard Petty Officer Andrea Anderson said. “They take samples and send it off to a lab and they test it and see what the material is. Right now, we can’t definitively say where it came from.”
As of Monday, June 1, the Shoreline and Cleanup Assessment Team (SCAT) responded to multiple calls from concerned residents in Malibu reporting the mysterious masses along the shores.
“The SCAT team members … they have four to eight people, and they walk all the way up and down the beach from Point Dume to Torrance,” Andrea said. “Anytime they find something, they test new samples and send it out and call a cleanup crew.”
“From Point Dume, all the way down to Redondo Beach, the assessment team has been monitoring up and down the beach and they noticed some tar balls in the Zuma Beach area,” US Coast Guard Petty Officer Mike Anderson said. “Last Wednesday was the initial report from Manhattan Beach of 30-50 percent of tar balls, and by Friday morning they had that cleaned to almost one percent.”
Each cleanup effort is treated like a crime scene, with careful consideration toward preventing contamination of evidence that could be used to prove where the tar originated, and subsequently who to charge for the contaminations.
“There’s potential negative health effects,” Vice President of Heal the Bay Sarah Sikich said. “If this is a refined or crude product, it could be harmful to health and cause irritations. We are recommending that people stay away from where the wet sand meets the dry sands.”
Numbers are still being compiled for the massive spill in Santa Barbara, but the Oiled Wildlife Care Network estimates more than 57 oiled birds and 38 mammals have been successfully recovered from the scene, and approximately 80 dead birds and 45 dead mammals taken in from the polluted shore.
“I think it’s important for people to continue to report the abnormalities,” Sikich said. “With so many people recreating on the beaches — we have so many people that can help.”
While the Coast Guard reports anything up to one percent of sporadic tar balls is normal, Anderson also said the beaches are pretty clean.
“If they find any kind of new material, they call up a beach cleanup team. It’s just a small uptick from what’s a natural occurrence,” Anderson said.
The uptick may be natural, but Sikich urges any sightings of tar be reported to the Coast Guard at 800.424.8802.
“If they do find that this is oil related to the Refugio spill, that will then be accounted for the penalties,” Sikich said. “The extensive documentation is very important.”
