Mystery Spill; Coastal New Jersey, NJ

Coastal New Jersey, NJ | 2003-Feb-05

Initial Notification: The SSC was notified of the initial impacts on Tuesday afternoon. It was reported as scattered tarballs along a 10 -- 12 mile stretch of the NJ ocean beaches from Manisquan Inlet to Seaside Heights. The SSC recommended that overflights and SCAT patrols look on the inside of the coastal inlets, as oil might have migrated inside the bay areas on incoming flood tides. Cleanup recommendations and bird recovery and rehabilitation strategies were also discussed. The NOAA Damage Assessment Coordinator was also notified. The NMFS noted that a number of seals (Harbor, harp, hooded, and grey) may be in the area. So far there have been about 20 birds affected (both dead and for rehab). Species include cormorants, ganets, seagulls, and red-throated loons. Manual cleanup operations were underway. With the impending storm cleanup efforts were focused on removal of the gross oil (larger tarballs and patties). Assessments after the storm passes were made to determine the need for further cleanup. There has been no identified source of the oil. The USCG Districts 1 and 5 have passed the word to all units to be on the lookout for any suspect vessels. Samples of the tarballs have been sent to the USCG Oil Identification Lab in Groton, CT for fingerprinting. The SSC brought up the point that the source may also be one of the many sunken tankers off the coast. USCG aircraft expanded their search further offshore in an attempt to spot any subsurface sources. There had been fairly high local media interest both in the New York and Philadelphia areas as well as from local NJ community press. NOAA trajectory modelers investigated the possibility of performing a hindcast to determine where the source of the oil may have likely originated. This was difficult and depend on the ability of the NWS to provide accurate local weather data for the last 10 days, as well as good current data.