(June 3, 2015) -- As reported as BREAKING on LBREPORT.com's front page (www.LBREPORT.com) earlier today, tar balls have appeared on LB beaches in the Belmont Shore area, leading the City to close all beaches from 1st Place through 72nd Place "in the interest of public safety." LBFD says the tar balls' origin is currently a mystery but samples are being collected for testing. A US Coast Guard spokesperson told LBREPORT.com the tar balls are mainly "sporadic," covering only roughly 1%-2% of the beach area, a level USCG considers a natural.occurrence (although testing will be conducted.)

Over the past few days, tar balls have appeared on South Bay area beaches, and a sizable oil spill occurred in the Santa Barbara area on May 19. "Source testing is underway to determine if there is a possible relation to the Santa Barbara oil spill that occurred May 19, 2015," the LBFD release stated:

The full June 3 LBFD release text states:

[LBFD release text] Throughout the day, various amounts of "Tar Balls" have washed up on shore and have created a public and environmental health concern. Agency representatives from the United States Coast Guard are onscene collecting samples of the petroleum based product for further testing. Cleanup operations have been mobilized and City resources will work diligently to minimize the impact on local area beaches. Volunteer efforts will be coordinated through the activation of the Long Beach Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to assist with clean-up efforts.

Due to the public's heightened awareness of "Tar Balls" on local beaches after recent incidents in the South Bay area, we ask that all reports of oil debris be directed to the National Response Center (NRC) Hotline at 1-800-424-8802. Source testing is underway to determine if there is a possible relation to the Santa Barbara oil spill that occurred May 19, 2015. There are no indications that this incident is related to any Long Beach Gas and Oil operations. Continued testing will be required to determine exact origin of this product.

City residents are advised to keep off of our local area beaches due to the possibility of unsafe conditions. Contact with oil tars may cause skin irritation and long-term health effects. Beach users are advised to avoid contact with the oil tars washed onshore and/or found in the water. The Long Beach Fire Department has established the incident command post in the parking lot at LaVerne Avenue and Ocean Boulevard."

A U.S. Coast Guard spokesperson, Petty Officer Anderson, told LBREPORT.com that the tar balls were first reported to USCG about 5:30 p.m. To hear the information she conveyed to us, click to launch audio here.