It's Here: BP Oil Spill Reaches Texas

It's the news we've all been dreading. News reports are confirming that tar balls began washing up on beaches in Galveston and the Bolivar Peninsula over the holiday. Locals noticed tar balls on the beach and informed the authorities. The tar balls were tested by the US Coast Guard and the Texas Land Gen. Office. The testing has confirmed that the tar balls originated from the site of the MACONDO well, which was the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in April. With this, Texas becomes the fifth state to be affected by the BP oil spill. However at this point, it's not clear how the oil managed to reach the Texas coastline. It's very unlikely that the oil was pushed along by currents. It is much more likely that the tar balls got sucked into a ship's ballast, or got stuck to a ship's side as it sailed through the contaminated waters of the Gulf of Mexico. The good news is that the Coast Guard does not expect more tar balls to begin washing up on our beaches. However, if the worst does happen, and there is more damage to the Texas coast, the Coast Guard has a new post in Texas City to oversee oil spill cleanup efforts in Texas. Maritime lawyer Brian Beckcom is a Board-Certified Trial Lawyer whose primary focus is the representation of Jones Act seamen, including tankermen, galley hands, deckhands, cruise line crews, fishing vessel crew members, offshore workers and other maritime workers in accidents in Texas, across the country and international waters.

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