Oregon Officials Warn People Not To Touch Mystery Tar-Like Substance On West Coast Beaches

PUBLISHED
13 hours ago

The substance appears to be petroleum-based, but no one knows where it’s come from.



It was first spotted on May 19.

Image credit: Oregon Department of Environmental Quality

Visitors to the northern Oregon and southern Washington coastline are being told to avoid touching balls and patties of an oily, tar-like substance that’s been washing up on the shore and affecting wildlife.

The substance was first reported on May 19, and in the days that followed, was found along a roughly 240-kilometer (150-mile) stretch of coast from Long Beach, Washington, down to Waldport, Oregon, by a Unified Command set up to respond to the incident.

Wildlife has also been affected by the appearance of the tar-like substance, with multiple birds discovered coated in it. Whilst cleanup teams have been working to rescue contaminated animals, some common murres – a bird species that breeds along the West Coast – have been found dead.

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What exactly they’ve been contaminated by is unclear. Both state and federal agencies have been testing the substance and have so far been able to determine that it’s petroleum-based.

More:
https://www.iflscience.com/oregon-officials-warn-people-not-to-touch-mystery-tar-like-substance-on-west-coast-beaches-74402