Tar Balls on N. County Beach Puzzle Officials

Small tar balls have washed onto a five-mile stretch of beach in North County, sparking a U. S. Coast Guard investigation into its source and causing joggers to watch their step.

The oil was first noticed Tuesday at Camp Pendleton and by Wednesday afternoon had moved to the southern edge of Oceanside’s city beach, authorities said.

Coast Guard investigators, who were sending samples of the oil to a laboratory for analysis, said they were unsure whether it may be the result of natural seepage from the ocean floor or from an ocean-going ship. But local officials said there was no reason to link the tar balls with last month’s tanker spill off Huntington Beach.

Oceanside city officials characterized the oil as more of a nuisance than anything else, and sent two beach-sweeping machines onto the strand to remove the goo.

“We’re finding dabs here and there,” City Hall spokesman Larry Bauman said. “The biggest ones are the size of small, misshapen cookies.”

He said the city was notified of the oil Tuesday by Camp Pendleton officials, who discovered the oil on their own beaches. The city sent out its Harbor Patrol boats to search for a slick, but none was found.

Camp Pendleton officials said the oil began appearing about 2 p.m. Tuesday. “It was nothing very significant,” said Staff Sgt. John Midgette, a base spokesman.

“Our natural-resources people went out to look at it again this morning, but it was all gone,” he said Wednesday.

He said there was no danger to wildlife.

Oceanside’s Bauman said lifeguards found three dead birds on the beach Wednesday, but that it was unclear whether any had been oiled and that one or two dead birds are usually found every day.

Officials with the state Department of Fish and Game said they knew of no unusual problems caused by the oil. The Coast Guard could not be reached for comment.

Natural oil seepage from fissures in the ocean floor is not unusual. Off Santa Barbara, more than 2,000 gallons of crude oil leaks from the ocean floor daily, according to Coast Guard estimates.