Coast Guard says new lab tests show most tar balls in Texas not from BP’s Gulf oil spill

Coast Guard: Most Texas tar balls not from spill

TEXAS CITY, Texas — Coastal officials in Texas now say that new laboratory tests show most of the tar balls that have washed up on Texas shores in the past few days are not from the massive Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

Coast Guard spokesman Petty Officer Richard Brahm says new lab tests found that almost none of the tar balls originate from the BP-operated Deepwater Horizon rig that blew up on April 20.

On Monday, officials said that the source of the tar balls found over the weekend along the Gulf Coast was the Deepwater Horizon.

Brahm says more testing will be done to try to find out where the tar balls came from. He says it may be from another leak or naturally occurring seepages from the seabed.