Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Officials say crude oil contaminating the northeastern coast of Brazil has reached the town of Maragogi, one of the region's main tourist beaches.
Television images show dozens of people in Maragogi, known for its natural pools of crystalline water, shoveling and raking the sand in an attempt to remove the sludge from the coast. The region is known as the "Brazilian Caribbean".
As a truck from Brazil's environmental agency loaded up with oil-stained sand Thursday, some volunteers, apparently without supervision from authorities, joined the work with small shovels.
Environmental regulator Ibama reported there are at least 178 locations in nine states that have been affected by the oil. In terms of expanse, it is Brazil's largest-ever environmental disaster, according to David Zee, an oceanographer at Rio de Janeiro's state university.
Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
