More tar balls foul Southern California beaches

A 4-mile stretch of beach in south Los Angeles County was closed Thursday after tar balls washed ashore — the latest Southern California coastline to shut down due to oily goo, said as the state’s attorney general toured the scene of last month’s crude oil spill near Santa Barbara.

The Long Beach Fire Department ordered the closure Wednesday night over concerns the material could cause skin irritation or other adverse health effects.

The closure was continued after authorities assessed the beach Thursday afternoon and determined tar balls were still washing up on shore.

“We ask that people stay off the beach and out of the water for now,” agency spokesman Jake Heflin said.

Tar balls are a naturally occurring phenomenon on beaches in the region, but officials say the high numbers in recent days have raised questions about their origin.

“We're dealing with an increase in the quantity that is making this distinctly different,” Heflin said, without saying when the beach might reopen. “In light of the situation in Santa Barbara and the South Bay it raises everyone's awareness.”

U.S. Coast Guard spokeswoman Petty Officer Third Class Andrea Anderson said her agency was looking into any possible links between the tar balls and the May 19 oil spill about 100 miles north, but officials said no direct link had been established so far.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris toured the fouled beaches near Santa Barbara on Thursday, telling CBS Los Angeles, “We’re here to investigate and determine whether there was criminal behavior.”

Harris told CNN, “We're going to go where the evidence takes us.”

A preliminary report from the U.S. Department of Transportation that was released Wednesday said found “extensive external corrosion” in the pipeline. Plains All American Pipeline, the operator of the pipe that ruptured and spewed more than 100,000 gallons of crude oil, has a history of violations.

State officials said the two state beaches blackened by the spill last month — Refugio and El Capitan — will remain closed at least until June 25, a week longer than previously reported.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Coast Guard will test samples to try to determine the source of the tar balls found in Long Beach. The material did not appear related to oil and gas extraction operations in the area, Heflin said.

Tar balls also led to recent beach closures in nearby Manhattan Beach and farther northwest in Ventura County.