Severe amounts of oil is washing up on Texas beaches

“All along the beach there were these black sticky blobs that we didn’t know what they were at first, but after closer examination, we discovered it was oil,” Rodriguez wrote in a Facebook post. “It’s so sad. There were children that were curious and didn’t know any better playing with it. Anyone that knows and has been around oil knows this isn’t easy to take off. We as humans need to do better.”

Mustang Island State Park posted about the oil as well on Monday, July 24, on Instagram. The Texas Parks and Wildlife Island stated its staff has been receiving reports of “moderate to severe” amounts of tar/oil washing in. While the oil poses no immediate health threats, officials said it can ruin bathing suits, shoes, and car floor mats. 

The safest way to remove tar from the skin is with bay oil or mineral oil.

Officials said they believe the latest sightings are either occurring naturally due to oil seeps or can be associated with oil spills. In 2010, the Gulf of Mexico experienced a major oil spill after the oil drilling rig, Deepwater Horizon, exploded and sank. The incident resulted in the death of 11 workers and is the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations, according to the United States Environmental Protection Agency.