Officials looking for source of oil spill hitting Galveston beaches

Crews are working to clean up tar bars found along a stretch of Galveston West End beaches. Crews are working to clean up tar bars found along a stretch of Galveston West End beaches. Photo: Texas General Land Office Photo: Texas General Land Office Image 1 of / 11 Caption Close Officials looking for source of oil spill hitting Galveston beaches 1 / 11 Back to Gallery

Beaches on Galveston's West End have been cleaned after tar balls washed ashore, officials said.

But the source of the tar balls has not been determined, said Jim Suydam, spokesman for the Texas General Land Office.

The gooey, oily substance was reported early Monday by a beach-goer.

Crews from Texas-based Phoenix Pollution Control & Environmental Services worked into the night Monday to clean up the tar balls, which stuck to seaweed along the beach at 10 Mile Road near Bermuda Beach.

Investigators with the state office and U.S. Coast Guard were trying to determine the source of the spill.

It could have resulted from naturally occurring seepage, or a man-made event.

"We won't know until the investigation is completed, but a possible source is from a ship that was offshore at the time," said Rich Anhart, regional director of the Texas General Land Office.

Investigators plan to obtain a sample of oil from the ship to determine if it matches the tar balls found on the beach.

Anhart estimated that about 50 gallons of oil spilled over the 1-1/2 mile stretch of shoreline.

A European shipping company hired the clean-up crews to pick up the oil, but it has not been determined whether the company was responsible for the spill, Anhart said.

"It was not really very much to begin with," Suydam said. "It was a very minor incident."