Source of oil spill not yet known

An oil spill in Charleston Harbor deposited tarry, black clumps of oil Tuesday along area beaches and may cause a temporary ban on shellfish harvesting, authorities said.

The source of the spill was unknown, said U.S. Coast Guard Capt. Michael McAllister, commanding officer of Coast Guard Sector Charleston. The Coast Guard received calls from mariners Tuesday morning reporting seeing oil slicks and tar balls in the harbor. A Coast Guard helicopter flew over the harbor and saw several slicks of oil.

At the same time, island residents were calling their local fire and police departments to report that oil had come in with the morning tide.

Hannah Dodson was jogging on the beach near her Sullivan's Island home about 8:30 a.m. when she noticed hundreds of small, black globs of a gooey substance along the high water line.

"I picked one up and smelled it, and it smelled like a petroleum product," Dodson said.

Sullivan's Island Fire Chief Anthony Stith said the department received a number of calls, and the Beach Patrol investigated and notified the Coast Guard and the state Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Adam Myrick, a public affairs officer at DHEC, said the agency would be doing a shoreline assessment at daybreak today to determine the impact of the spill on shellfish. DHEC might close shellfish harvesting if the impact is significant, he said.

DHEC is monitoring the cleanup, but the Coast Guard was in charge, Myrick said.

Sullivan's Island had deposits on the beach from the area near Station 16 to Breech Inlet. Deposits also were reported on Folly Beach and at Fort Sumter.

Workers from Moran Environmental Recovery, one of the private contractors hired by the Coast Guard, were on Sullivan's Island, working as fast as they could to clean up as much as possible before high tide. One crew was picking up oil-infested clumps of sea weed and putting them into plastic bags. Another crew was using shovels and driveway squeegees to peel off the top 1/4-inch layer of sand in spots where the spill had left a fine black silt.

McAllister said residents should refrain from trying to clean up the oily debris.

"We ask that the public leave it to properly trained and outfitted cleanup personnel," McAllister said. "Our concern is, if folks come down and try to help clean up themselves, any materials that they take off the beach that are contaminated with oil, we have to go find it and clean it up."

The spill is not related to the collision Thursday night of two Air Force F-16 fighters off the coast, McAllister said. The F-16s spilled jet fuel, which is of a very different consistency and would evaporate quickly.

McAllister said it might take several days to determine the extent of the spill. The largest oil slick reported in the harbor was about 200 feet by 200 feet. He said that meant this was not a particularly large spill.

Determining the origin of the spill may take some detective work. Samples of the substance found on the beaches will be compared with petroleum products that could have been carried by vessels calling on the Port of Charleston, McAllister said.

Reach David W. MacDougall at 937-5655 or macdougd@postandcourier.com.