HOUSTON (AP) _ Testing confirms that tar balls found over the weekend on Texas beaches are from the Gulf oil spill.
U.S. Coast Guard Petty officer Richard Brahm said test results came back Tuesday that showed about two gallons of tar balls discovered Sunday on Bolivar Peninsula and Galveston Island came from the spill following the April 20 rig explosion.
Officials on Monday confirmed five gallons of tar balls recovered Saturday on the peninsula, northeast of Galveston, was the first evidence that gushing crude from the Deepwater Horizon well had reached Texas.
Authorities say the consistency of the tar balls indicates the oil might have hitched a ride on a ship and was not carried naturally by currents to the barrier islands of the eastern Texas coast, but there is no way to know for sure.