According to a statement released by the DEC, officials removed approximately 24 cubic yards of No. 6 oil and contaminated sand during 25 hours of beach cleaning spanning three days. The oil recovered from the beaches was taken to Covanta Inc., a waste-to-energy facility in Huntington, to be properly disposed of. Afterward, according to a number of aerial, surface and walking surveys along long stretches of Atlantic Beach and Long Beach, the beaches were clear of any oil, the statement concluded.
The spill drew national news coverage, despite being one of the smaller spills in recent memory. "It was basically a non-event," said Long Beach City Manager Edwin Eaton. Because it occurred during the off-season, there was not expected to be any economic impact on the region, and fishermen and surfers were back in the water by Saturday.
Nor was any long-term environmental damage expected. "I haven't heard of anything being killed," said Morris Kramer, an Atlantic Beach-based environmentalist. "The migrating birds were all gone. Some of [the oil] might sink in and someone might step on a glob of it in the spring, that's about it."
At press time, the source of the spill had not yet been determined. Coast Guard Sector Long Island Sound, in New Haven, Conn., launched an immediate investigation. Coast Guard Vessel Traffic Service (VTS) New York, based in Staten Island, used merchant vessels' Automatic Identification System (AIS) signatures to identify nine vessels that passed through the area up to 48 hours before the oil was reported on the beach, according to the DEC.
Coast Guard investigators from Connecticut and Virginia were collecting oil samples from seven ships identified by VTS New York, and sending those samples to the Coast Guard Marine Safety Lab in Groton, Conn., the DEC said. Lab technicians were comparing the ship samples to a beach sample collected by the Coast Guard Marine Safety Detachment in Coram. The remaining two ships are en route to overseas ports. Officials said they will test those vessels if none of the seven stateside vessels is a match.
Coast Guard VTS employs AIS technology that monitors vessels' course, speed and destination. Self-propelled vessels 65 feet or greater in length are required by law to install AIS, according to the DEC.
Within 30 minutes of the initial notification, Coast Guard Auxiliary and Nassau County Police Department air units were on the scene and assisted in an attempt to determine the source of the oil and any additional pollution in the water. Boat crews from Coast Guard Station Jones Beach and Marine Safety Detachment Coram responded to determine the extent of the damage and the type of oil. A Coast Guard Air Station Atlantic City HH-60 Jayhawk helicopter crew conducted daily flights, and the Coast Guard Cutter Bainbridge Island, a 110-foot patrol boat based in Sandy Hook, N.J., remained off Atlantic Beach.
Even in the off-season, a major oil spill could have a significant impact on the cluster of beach clubs along the barrier island. But Atlantic Beach Club Association President Stuart Berman did not seem too concerned as he discussed his stroll along the shore last weekend. "I was down at the beach over the weekend and walked from the Westbury Beach Club westward," Berman said. "I saw no evidence of any oil on the beach."
Berman said the spill would have "no effect" on the beach clubs next spring, and acknowledged that there have been worse spills in the past.
Nonetheless, the spill surprised Barbara Gauthier of East Atlantic Beach, who was walking her Havanese, Fidel, along the beach at around 1 p.m. on Thanksgiving when she noticed that his white paws were covered in black. After a turpentine bath, Fidel was back on the beach Saturday. But, Gauthier said, "He was not a happy boy."
Mike Caputo contributed to this story.
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