U.S. Coast Guard Removed 1,000 Pounds Of Tar From NJ Beaches

LONG BRANCH, NJ — The U.S. Coast Guard announced Monday they've now removed approximately 1,000 pounds of tar balls and oil debris from beaches in Monmouth County.

The clean-up happened after multiple reports came in last week of tar balls washing up on beaches from Sea Bright to Asbury Park, including near Seven Presidents Park in Long Branch.

The tar ranged in size from as small as a penny to large chunks almost as big as a human fist. Oil slicks could also be seen on the beaches. Tar balls also washed up on beaches in Staten Island and Long Island.

The cause of the tar balls is still unknown: Last week, the Coast Guard flew a helicopter from Lower New York Harbor to Asbury Park, but said they found no tar or oil spills in the ocean water.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said here on their website that tar balls are actually a well-known phenomenon: They come from either human-made oil spills, but they also can occur naturally when oil naturally seeps out of cracks in the ocean floor.

For example, tar balls have been found on central California beaches during the winter, and NOAA scientists said they originated from oil seeps on the seafloor off southern California.

The NJ Department of Environmental Protection and U.S. Coast Guard immediately started cleaning up the tar balls as soon as reports came in last Tuesday morning.

No new pollution was observed over the weekend, said the Coast Guard.

Coast Guard Cleaning Up Tar Balls Found On Long Branch Beaches (Nov. 29)