Coast Guard Probes Delaware Oil Spill

Lab tests could help determine where the heavy fuel oil washing ashore came from. WRDE's Mallory Metzner reports.

(WRDE/NBC News) — The U.S. Coast Guard is working to determine the source of an oil spill off the coast of Delaware.

Pockets of oil are still washing up on the Delaware coastline.

The Coast Guard is using a process called “oil fingerprinting” to find source of the oil.

The oil they’ve collected is a heavy fuel oil.

Tom Rudy of Rudy Marine says the oil washing up on the sand cannot be from a personal vehicle.

“No question about it,” Rudy said. “The heaviest fuel would be diesel fuel, but again, it’s very lightweight oil, like home heat oil. It’s clear in color, it wouldn’t look like what I’ve seen on the beach.”

Rudy said a large commercial vessel might not even notice a leak of this size.

“When you have a large ship like that, and if they have a discharge somewhere, they may not pick it up for days or weeks, especially if it’s a small discharge,” he said.

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