Winds Shift Spill’s Path to Shore

Shifting winds pushed an oil slick from the supertanker Mega Borg northeastward Sunday, buying officials a little more time to prepare for when it reaches shore, the Coast Guard said.

Officials alerted communities north of Galveston to Louisiana that the tar balls may not be far away. They predicted late Sunday that tar balls from the spill would hit land Tuesday.

The 30-mile slick, which lingered about 11 miles offshore, had stretched into a light sheen in places and continued to drift slowly away from the tanker, crippled 57 miles offshore from Galveston since a June 8 explosion. But officials said Sunday that the leaking had apparently stopped.

Meanwhile, officials said oil-eating microbes spread over part of the slick appeared to have done their job.

Emergency cleanup crews had expected the Angolan crude to begin washing ashore late Sunday near Galveston, but a morning flyover showed the slick moving north-northeast of the area.