Tar balls were found on St. George Island over the weekend and the coast guard is now testing the tar balls to see where they came from.
Officials do not believe the tar balls are the result of last summers BP oil spill because the tar is still very fresh.
The fact that it has not been found in Gulf County or on St. Vincent Island also points away from this event being related to the oil spill.
They are saying it’s more likely that it was a natural occurrence or that a ship emptied its bilge off-shore.
The Coast Guard is the lead agency in tracing the tar balls to their source.
They have taken two samples for testing – it will take a few weeks to get the test results back.
The Franklin County Emergency Management Office said the tar ball impact is minimal and the tar is scattered along St. George Island in various locations including the state park and the Plantation.
Teams are now in place to clean up the tar – they will hand clean the beaches.
Even though much of the tar is mixed in with seaweed they do not plan to rake the beach because the seaweed is important to nesting shore birds.
County commissioners have also asked that teams take a look at Dog Island and Alligator Point to see if there is any impact there.
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