
DATE: Tuesday, June 3, 1997                 TAG: 9706030319

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B5   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY SCOTT HARPER, STAFF WRITER 

DATELINE: NORFOLK                           LENGTH:   76 lines

TAR BALLS WASHING UP ON EASTERN SHORE BEACHES THREATEN PROTECTED BIRDS PIPING PLOVERS APPEAR TO BE AT RISK ON ASSAWOMAN ISLAND; SOURCE OF OIL A MYSTERY.

Waves of tar balls that washed ashore and closed beaches on pristine Assateague Island over the weekend have wildlife officials concerned about a threatened shore bird now breeding in sandy nests nearby.

At least 15 pairs of piping plovers, a federally protected species, were counted Monday on oil-stained beaches on Assawoman Island, a remote sanctuary on Virginia's Eastern Shore accessible only by boat, local officials said.

``That appears to be the heaviest-hit island, too,'' said John D. Schroer, manager of the Chincoteague National Wildlife Refuge, near the Virginia-Maryland border. ``We've already seen a few birds with oil smeared on their breasts.''

Schroer said wildlife rescue teams are ready to evacuate any plovers and their newborns if beachfront nests become swamped by oil. None so far has appeared to be in danger, though, he added.

Cleanup crews, meanwhile, completed raking and bagging tar balls - some as big as softballs - from about five miles of affected shoreline on Assateague Island late Monday afternoon, said Petty Officer Brandon Brewer, a Coast Guard spokesman in Norfolk.

At sunrise today, Brewer said, about six Coast Guard workers and 30 hired hands from Industrial Marine Service in Norfolk will turn their attention to Wallops Island, just south of Assateague on Virginia's Atlantic coast. Wallops Island also is home to a NASA rocket-launching facility.

Brewer said the entire cleanup - affecting about 14 miles of coastline and beachfront, and expected to cost thousands of dollars - should be wrapped up later this week. High tides forced crews to quit early Monday.

How it all started remains a mystery, however. The Coast Guard still is investigating the origin of the tar balls, which started coming ashore Friday afternoon and continued in spots through Sunday.

The gooey mess caused the National Park Service to close beaches to swimming and surfing Saturday; they were reopened Sunday, officials said.

Samples of the oily residues - which together caused a thin sheen that extended eight miles offshore - are expected to provide the Coast Guard some clues when lab results are returned later this week, Brewer said.

Assateague Island, a sandy and scenic sanctuary for birds, wildlife and eco-tourists, has been hit by tar balls before. But never to the extent as this weekend's exposure, Schroer said.

In previous incidents, authorities could not determine the source of the oil, he said.

Schroer gave high marks to the Coast Guard for initiating cleanup efforts so quickly over the weekend. Brewer said the pace could have been even faster but that geography kept crews at bay.

Many of the stained beaches can be reached only on foot or by boat, so workers have had to walk along affected oceanfront with cleanup equipment in tow, Brewer said.

``It's fairly slow going and very hard work,'' he said. ILLUSTRATION: FILE

Wildlife workers counted at least 15 pairs of piping plovers, like

this one, on remote Assawoman Island, which is also the heaviest

hit.

MORE ABOUT PLOVERS

Stocky shorebirds with big eyes and short bills, plovers are found

on beaches and mudflats. Unlike their relatives the sandpipers, they

rarely probe under the mud for insects and small aquatic animals.

Instead, they stand still to scan the ground in front of them and

snatch up small prey, then run a few paces and pause to watch again.

Piping plovers make their nests in a hollow in the sand. Eggs,

usually four, are gray or buff, lightly spotted with black and