- Title: USA: Tar balls wash up on Alabama beach
- Date: 3rd June 2010
- Summary: DAUPHIN ISLAND, ALABAMA, UNITED STATES (JUNE 1, 2010) (REUTERS) SIGN READING: WELCOME TO DAUPHIN ISLAND PEOPLE WALKING ON BEACH TAR BALL ON BEACH TAR BALL IN WATER, BEING WASHED ASHORE PEOPLE WALKING ON BEACH TAR BALL ON BEACH
- Embargoed: 18th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes,Environment / Natural World
- Reuters ID: LVAC455V83H0O3DXGTRNCLH15X40
- Story Text: Tar balls wash up on Dauphin Island's beaches as Alabama braces for oil slick.
Oil debris in the form of tar balls washed up on the beaches of Dauphin Island on Tuesday (June 1) as wind drove the slick from the gushing Gulf of Mexico oil well towards Alabama.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicted that southerly and southwesterly winds were driving the oil towards the Alabama coast. There was no official confirmation that the slick had reached the Dauphin Island, a barrier island 22 miles from Mobile, but scattered tar balls were visible on several beaches and continued to wash ashore.
Tar balls are a result of wind and wave action dispersing an oil slick and mixing the crude oil with water to form an emulsion. When the emulsion is broken up by the wind, it forms tar balls.
Tourists at the popular vacation destination were curious about the oil debris. One teenager, Preston Sheppard, on vacation from John's Creek, Georgia, collected the tar balls in his hands, squashing them into a mud-like substance.
"If you ingest oil, it'll definitely mess with your system but as long as you keep it out of your system (it's OK), and I don't have any cuts on my hands hopefully," he said.
The greatest worry in resort towns like Dauphin Island is that the oil will keep the tourist income away. Vacationer Brooks Breyel said he had noticed there were fewer tourists than in previous years.
"Usually they're pretty full around this time of year but right now it's like a ghost town. It's empty. There's nobody to hang out with," he said.
Local volunteer firefighter Richard Bineger said he hadn't noticed a reduction in tourism yet, but feared it was coming.
"It hasn't slowed the tourism down just yet but once the oil gets on the beaches, you can't swim in it. And that's what they come down here for - to swim. Matter of fact, they're probably going to have to close the beaches down anyway."
Alabama had planned a gated boom system to block oil from entering Mobile Bay but gave up on the idea after winds and currents prevented installation of the gate. Instead, the Mobile Bay entrance has three layers of deflection boom on each side of the ship channel, with the idea of capturing any oil as it comes in.
Oil has been flowing since April 20, when an explosion on the BP Deepwater Horizon rig sank the drilling platform and killed 11 workers. U.S. government scientists estimate between 12,000-19,000 barrels of oil a day have been pouring into the Gulf of Mexico, creating a disaster about twice the size of the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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