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Cleanup of oily globs on Delaware beaches reaches 55 tons

DNREC

Officials say about 55 tons of oily debris have been removed from First State beaches since last week’s oil spill in the Delaware Bay.

The Delaware Department of Natural resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) was first notified of oil patties washing ashore at Broadkill Beach last Monday.

A more than 100-personnel crew led by the U.S. Coast Guard and DNREC has since been working to clean up the tar balls with shovels. They've filled about 4 construction dumpsters.

“The tides have taken that oil debris from the beach to the water and back on to the beach. And so just sort of oil debris and tar balls are just scattered from the Delaware Bay beaches and the Atlantic Beaches. But it is not one large oil slick,” said DNREC spokeswoman Nikki Lavoie. 

The globs of oil have been reported to have washed ashore at a list of locations ranging from Bowers Beach to Ocean City, Maryland.

“Surveys over the weekend and early Monday found small globs of oil and oily debris scattered from Bowers Beach to Fenwick Island. We now have also received some reports and crews are investigating oil debris and tar balls as far south as Ocean City,” Lavoie said. 

Beaches in the towns of Lewes and Dewey Beach remain temporarily closed due to the spill as does the 4-wheel drive surf fishing crossing at Delaware Beach Plum Island Preserve.

The source of the spill and its size are still unknown.

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