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Officials unsure if oil near Los Angeles related to last week's spill further north

By Danielle Haynes
Blobs of oil began washing ashore along a 6.5-mile stretch of beach near Los Angeles on Thursday. The source of the oil is unconfirmed. Photo courtesy the County of Los Angeles Fire Department Lifeguards
1 of 2 | Blobs of oil began washing ashore along a 6.5-mile stretch of beach near Los Angeles on Thursday. The source of the oil is unconfirmed. Photo courtesy the County of Los Angeles Fire Department Lifeguards

LOS ANGELES, May 28 (UPI) -- Health officials in California have shut down 6.5 miles of coastline near Los Angeles after blobs of oil washed ashore Wednesday.

The Los Angeles Department of Public Health closed the area from El Segundo Jetty in the north to the Redondo Beach city limit in the south -- including Manhattan beach -- due to the release of petroleum.

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The stretch of coastline is about 100 miles south of Santa Barbara, where a Plains All American Pipeline ruptured releasing up to 2,500 barrels of oil off the coast of Refugio State Beach. Cleanup is ongoing along the coast there, and the company earlier this week defended the state's pipeline infrastructure.

Officials haven't determined whether the oil showing up south of Santa Barbara is related to the Plains All American Pipeline spill. The National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard have taken samples from the southern beaches to determine the source of the oil, beach cleanup advocacy group Heal the Bay said in a news release.

Lifeguards with the County of Los Angeles Fire Department said they noticed blobs of oil washing ashore near Los Angeles around 10 a.m. Thursday.

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