Oil forces state’s first beach closure

HANCOCK COUNTY — State officials have closed the beach and parts of Beach Boulevard in Waveland because a significant amount of tar balls has washed ashore and on the road.

Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality director Trudy Fisher told WLOX-TV there’s so many tar balls you cannot walk across the beach without stepping on them.

Fisher says the water is up to the seawall, bringing much more of the oily material to shore. County crews are working to clear the tar balls off the road first. Fisher said it would take at least two days to clean up the beach.