BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. — Dozens of tar blobs started washing up on Cocoa Beach Tuesday. Only laboratory tests can confirm if they came from the disaster in the Gulf, but Brevard County's emergency management director told WFTV he's already alerted the Coast Guard.
VIDEO REPORT: Tar Washes Up
The last round of tar blobs on Satellite Beach was not from the Gulf oil disaster. Brevard County's emergency management director said anything that has resembled a tar blob in the last 60 days has been tested and, so far, nothing has been traced back to the Gulf disaster.
But the tar-filled beach is new reason for concern. Tuesday afternoon, visitors along a one-mile stretch of Cocoa Beach were talking about the tar blobs that washed in with the tide.
"There were 30 people out here. Nobody wanted to stay, because we don't know if it's dangerous or not at this point," beachgoer Dennis Drenguba said.
For now, the beach remains open, but the most obvious question for beachgoers used to seeing crabs, jellyfish and seaweed is where did these tar balls come from in the first place?
"It could be from the Gulf, it could be from a boat's bilge," Brevard County Communications Director Kimberly Prosser said.
Prosser said the U.S. Coast Guard will be responsible for the testing that will determine the source of the tar blobs. They aren't the first samples to be sent off in the past 60 days, although it is easily the most-plentiful report.
So far, none of the tar blobs tested have been traced back to the Deep Horizon oil spill, and there have been no reports of tar blobs washing up on nearby Cape Canaveral or Indialantic beaches. But that information did little to ease the mind of Raymond Poplar and his friends.
"My concern is it's going to be like this for a long time," Poplar said.
The county should have results on the testing in five to seven days and is asking beachgoers that happen to find tar blobs not to touch them with their bare hands. In fact, the county would prefer the public call 211 for removal.
WFTV
