It’s official. Oil from the BP oil spill has reached the Texas coastline. Gallons of tar balls were found on the Bolivar Peninsula and a Galveston beach over the Fourth of July holiday. The tar balls were found by local residents who notified the US Coast Guard and the Texas Gen. Land Office immediately. Tests have now confirmed that the tar balls indeed originated from the BP oil spill site in the Gulf Mexico.

As soon as the tar balls were discovered, crew members began to use rakes and shovels to remove the tar balls. A total of 5 gallons of tar balls were recovered. The largest ball was about the size of a ping-pong ball.

Authorities are still trying to determine how the oil reached the Texas coastline. The consistency of the tarballs doesn’t seem to indicate that these have traveled 400 miles from the site of the Deepwater Horizon explosion, which led to the well spewing oil. They’re looking at the possibility that the oil came from the side of a ship or vessel that passed through the spill. As of now, no one believes that the tar balls reached the beaches through currents. More tests will be conducted on the tar balls to determine how they landed here.

There’s no evidence of more unwelcome oil washing up on Texas beaches, but the Coast Guard is keeping its eyes open. The agency has set up a command post for oil spill operations in Texas City. In case more oil shows up on our beaches, then this post will likely be in charge of oil spill cleanup efforts here.

The maritime lawyers at Schechter, Shaffer & Harris, L.L.P. represent injured victims of maritime accidents in Texas, across the country and worldwide.