NEWPORT BEACH
Safety officials said they do not know how marine life will be affected by 30 gallons of fluorescent green paint that was poured into the bay near the Balboa Fun Zone last week.
The paint, Nocturn, is water-based and used for games at Dr. Bizarro’s, an arcade in the area, said Randy Scheerer, training chief for the Newport Beach Fire and Marine Department.
“They apparently used it to fill bottles in ring-the-bottle games,” he said. “They dumped it in the drain thinking it’s just a dye.”
The owner of the arcade declined to comment about the Thursday spill.
A city vacuum truck was called in to suck up about two gallons of the paint that lay stagnant on Palm Street.
The paint will be analyzed by state Department of Fish and Game officials to determine if it is hazardous to the environment, Scheerer said. The severity of any penalties for the arcade will depend on the results of the analysis.
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