Charleston, SC - Balls of oil are still washing up on area beaches three day after an oil spill was reported.

 

From Sullivan’s Island to Kiawah Island, people are dealing with a sticky situation and the Coast Guard may be closer to finding out who’s responsible.

 

The Coast Guard says on Monday, a cargo ship reported they spilled fuel into Charleston’s harbor.

 

“The motor vessel, John F. did report a small spill somewhere between 10 and 100 gallons Monday. They hired a cleanup contractor to clean up all of the oil they could,” said Captain Mike McAllister, Commander of Coast Guard Sector Charleston.

 

By Tuesday, beachgoers were taking notice.

 

“I had oil on my feet and I had oil on the wax of my board,” said Jenny Brown, Surfer.

 

The Coast Guard says they consider this a small spill, but say the cleanup is no small task.

 

“This is actually a fairly small spill in term of volume, but because the oil is heavy and sticky, it’s a little more difficult to clean up,” said Captain McAllister.

 

Since Tuesday, crews have been raking, bagging, and dumping debris covered in oil.

 

“Our sense at this point is that we’ve recovered a majority of the oil that can be recovered. We don’t expect to see as much beach impact in the coming days as we did on Tuesday,” said Captain McAllister.

 

For now, health officials are advising swimmers to stay out of the water.

 

Because of the size of the spill, the Division of Natural Resources does not believe it will have a negative effect on marine life.

 

The Coast Guard says whoever is responsible for this spill, will cover the cost of the cleanup. They’re testing oil spilled from the cargo ship to see if it’s the same oil that’s washing up on shore. They expect results in the next couple of days.

 

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